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rt-i 'i>' '^•\>-i’»' •■ '• ‘. 




A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


BY 


/ 


!JUM t 1898, 


V - ' 






SYDNEY FLOWER VSeBf 


Author of Hypnotism Up to DateH 


CHICAGO 

THE PSYCHIC PUBLISHING COMPANY 
56 Fifth Avenue 
1896 


Copyright 1896, by 
SYDNEY FLOWER 


PROLOGUE. 


‘‘Do you really wish me to write this 
story?” I asked. 

“Of course I wish it. Why not?” 

“But, my dear, consider. 1 am not accus- 
tomed to being literally truthful. Actual hap- 
penings are too unyielding for me. I must 
romance and embellish.” 

“You have plenty of material fact to draw 
upon,” answered the lady imperiously. “Write 
the story, and make me very nice — much nicer 
than I am naturally.” 

I made some foolish reply, looking into her 
eyes as I spoke. Wonderful gray eyes, heavily 
lidded and sad, but they lit up then with mis- 
chief. 

“Oh, that will be splendid,” she continued. 
“I want to see just what you think of me.” 

“You don’t want to see anything of the kind,” 
I replied. “This is merely vanity on your part. 


6 


PROLOGUE 


You know quite well that my description of you 
will be so absurdly flattering that — ” 

“Very well, then nobody will recognize me, 
so your story will be safe enough in that re- 
spect,” she put in quickly. 

“But somebody would be sure to make a 
guess and hit the truth,” I said. “It would be 
verj^ embarrassing for you if it should be 
known.” 

“Not a bit.” 

In my condition a man will catch at straws. 

“Then if you don’t care — I mean that you 
imply that in the near future — ” I began eagerljs 
taking her hands. 

“I don’t mean an3'thing of the kind,” she 
said with coolness, withdrawing her hand, to 
lay it, however, on my shoulder. 

“You can’t possibly love me,” I said, in des- 
peration, “or you wouldn’t wish me to make 
this story public.” 

“I never said I loved you,” she replied, 
“but I don’t see the force of your argument.” 

“Why, merely this'. This story is a part of 
my life. I hope it will be a part, and a large 
part, of yours also. Let us keep it to ourselves 
then,” 


PROLOGUE 


7 


“You are making an idyl of an everyday oc- 
currence,” she said lightly. 

I shrugged my shoulders. 

“And think of the moral you could point.” 

“For whose benefit?” 

“Your brother hypnotists,” she smiled. 

“Oh, if you’re going to treat it in that vein,” 
I said, “I don’t see why I shouldn’t make a joke 
of it too.” 

She clapped her hands. “Bravo!” she said. 
“I was sure you would be sensible in the end.” 

“I am your servant always,” I said, “but I 
would rather do some other devoir^ an it please 
you.” 

“You are a dreadful boy,” she said, “always 
grumbling. And I ask such a little thing. Only 
to put me in your stor}^ Is that so difficult?” 

“Most difficult to do you justice, enchant- 
ress!” I replied, overlooking the unfairness of 
her attack. Never have I met an opponent who 
shifted her ground so swiftly. 

“Then you will do this to please me.?” she 
went on, in her coaxing voice. 

“The fight is not regular,” I cried. “I was 
stricken to the heart ere I entered the arena.” 

“Do you yield?” she asked. 


8 


PROLOGUE 


“I am your captive. Do your worst now.” 

“Then hear my sentence,” said she, “thou 
vanquished knight. This story shaltthou write, 
because it is my will, but if it please me not, 
when written, look to it! I’ll have thy head, 
perchance.” 

“Hast got both head and heart alreadjq 
wench,” I returned, smartly. 

She laughed gaily. “Here then, because 3’'ou 
have been a good bo}^ I shall reward you.” 

Closing my eyes with her hand, she leaned 
over the back of my chair, drew my head down, 
and laid her cheek on mine for an instant. 

“A most unsatisfactory salute,” said I. 

“And therefore fit for a sovereign to be- 
stow,” she cried, as she sprang away. “Be 
good now, and go on with your work.” 

Some men would have followed her to extort 
that kiss. Some women would have expected 
pursuit. She is unlike other women. I remained 
seated at my desk. Experience has painfully 
begotten wisdom in me where this lady is con- 
cerned. 

“I shall be back in an hour,” she announced, 
from the door. 


TROLOGUE 


9 


‘^It is too soon, j^our majesty,” I answered. 
‘‘Twice the time is necessary. I shall call 
you ‘A Difficult Subject.’” 

“It sounds unbefitting my rank,” she said. 

“You are the subject of a hypnotist,” I re- 
plied, firmly. 

“Enough,” she said. “I am content — for the 
present. See to it that you rest not, nor smoke, 
while I am gone!” — and so she left me to my 
task. 

I had hardly taken up my pen, however, 
when she re-entered the room. 

“Have you chosen a name for me?” 

“Hardly.” 

“I should prefer to be a Miss, if you please. 
Deverest is pretty. Rachel Deverest will do, I 
think.” 

“ It is too much like ‘Rachel Dearest,’” I ob- 
jected. 

“Printers’ errors must be corrected in the 
proofs,” she said, with a business-like air that 
sat very well upon her. “Now for yourself; I 
think something plain and unaffected would be 
best.” 

“Oh, by all means,” I said. “I incline favor- 
ably to John Smith.” 


lO 


PROLOGUE 


“H’m, Richard Robinson would not be out 
of place,” she said musingly. 

“ Why discriminate against Jones and Brown ?” 
I asked bitterly. “What have those excellent 
fellows done that they should be left out of the 
running?” 

“They need not be left out. Surely there 
will be other characters in this story.” 

“To ba sure. In speaking of Brown would 
you mind if, when the time arrives, he is intro- 
duced as ‘plain’ Brown on account of the rus- 
ticity of his garb and speech?” 

“In order that Richard Robinson may shine 
by contrast?” she inquired, unkindl}^ “No, I 
don’t think ^mu should take an unfair advan- 
tage. You see that your sarcasm is quite lost 
on me. I can always checkmate you.” 

“Pooh, I allow myself to defer to jmu,” I 
answered rudel3\ 

“The end is the same,” she said. “But we 
are wasting time.” 

“I am,” I rejoined, “I glory in it!” 

“Will you play ‘Richard Robinson’ to my 
‘Rachel Deverest?’” 

“On one condition.” 

“Name it.” 


PROLOGUE 


I I 

‘‘That we have ten minutes for refreshments 
between the acts.” 

“That’s very good for you,” she said serious- 
ly, “but you are not among the audience, so 
the parallel doesn’t hold. We are the actors, 
and therefore, oh, you silly boy, you will have 
the privilege of seeing me very often — behind 
the scenes!” 

“Ah, that will be worth waiting for,” I said. 

“And writing for?” 

“Certainly. You will be audience, critic 
and leading lady rolled into one. It is an envi- 
able position.” 

“It is unique, at all events,” she replied, 
“and dignified.” 

“I must salute your new-found dignity,” I 
said, and rising, I took her hand’^and kissed it. 

“You make love very prettily, boy. Who 
taught you?” 

^‘It is a power inherent in man,” I answered. 
“Spontaneously developed from the subjective 
mind.” 

“Does it improve with practice?” 

“It acquires a wider range, but its quality 
does not improve,” I returned evasively. 

Her gray eyes were fixed steadily upon me. 


12 


PROLOGUE 


“Who taught you?” she asked again, in a low 
tone. 

“Some woman,” I said meekly. 

“Some women, say rather,” she exclaimed 
scornfully. “Oh, if I ever love a man it will be 
one to whom I can look up I If I cannot look 
up, I — look away.” 

“Your highness is disturbed.” 

“Was there ever a time when you were not 
sighing to a woman?” 

I reflected: “There was — once.” 

Curiosit}" got the better of her prudence. 
“When, pray?” 

“When I had the measles.” 

It was worth much to see those slumberous 
gray eyes flash, but the drooping lids half-cov- 
ered them in am instant. 

“We are wasting time,” she said icily. 

“I await your pleasure, lady.” 

She smiled in spite of herself. “You are the 
most absurd man I know. I believe you are 
always acting I” 

“The dramatic instinct is strong within me,” 
I admitted; “I cannot forget that I am now 
‘Richard Robinson.’” 

“Nor I that I am ‘Rachel Deverest.’ I was 
trying the part a moment ago.” 


PROLOGUE 


13 


“Oh!” 

“Yes.” 

“It was well done,” I said. “The acting was 
without flaw.” 

“Thank you. I am going now.” 

She turned at the door and our eyes met. 
“You will forget what has passed,” she said. 

“I will not refer to it, but am not likely to 
forget,” 1 said. 

She closed the door gently, and I returned to 
my desk. 


\ 


ASTUDYIN HYPNOTISM. 


CHAPTER I. 

A FIRST SUCCESS. 

Whether it was decreed that in the year of 
grace, 1896, one Richard Robinson, idle bar- 
rister at-law, should turn his attention to the 
study of hypnotism, or whether chance deter- 
mined his action in the matter, it is certain that 
the said Richard, having an unconscionable 
amount of spare time on his hands, did cast aside 
his previous pretense of interest in his profession 
and did devote himself body and soul to the 
elucidation of the mysteries of the science afore- 
said. And having shut himself up in his cham- 
bers with many books, both purchased and 
borrowed, bearing on the subject, he diligently 
perused the same, and committed, as well as 
he could, to memory the published researches, 
experiences, and theories, of Deleuze, Esdaile, 
Braid, Gregory, Moll, Charcot, . Bernheim, 
15 


I 6 A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 

Binet and other lesser lights, winding up his 
course with the Psychical Research Society and 
Hudson. It was a confusing and conflicting 
menu, and when he emerged from confinement 
he suffered slightlj^ from a stupor corresponding 
to indigestion of the brain. He found that Char- 
cot of the Salpetriere considered the induction 
of the hypnotic sleep to be indicative of disease 
in the physical condition of the subject, and to 
be attributable to physical manipulation only. 
He found that Braid negatived the assumption of 
the existence of a magnetic fluid transferabk 
from one human being to another, and that 
Esdaile, an English surgeon with a record of 
work in India above reproach, performed all 
his hospital experiments under hypnosis psy- 
chically, as he thought, induced ; and finally that 
Moll, Bernheim and others denied the physical 
hypothesis entirely and gave full credit to the 
influence of mind upon mind so far as verbal 
suggestion went. Further, that these latter gen- 
tlemen, in common with Liebault, the founder of 
the Nancy School of Hypnotism, proclaimed 
the inevitable existence of suggestion in con- 
nection with all phenomena manifested, aver- 
ring that hypnosis could be best studied in a 


A FIRST SUCCESS 


17 


perfectly healthy man or woman, and that it was 
not in any way a presumption of a pathological 
condition, nor due to the mysterious agency 
known as animal magnetism. He also discov- 
ered that whereas the Nancy experimenters be- 
lieved that hypnotic influence could be made 
the means of the perpetration of crime, yet 
Charcot and his assistants were more than du- 
bious with regard to the relation existing be- 
tween the two; nay, that Charcot had 
challenged the production of one authentic 
crime committed under the influence of hyp- 
notic suggestion. Apart from the reputation 
enjoyed by the great French chemist for scien- 
tific investigation extending over a period of 
thirty years, it was a point in his favor to re- 
member that his experiments Fad been conducted 
upon the lowest classes of society; upon those 
unfortunate outcasts, in short, who might be ex- 
pected to most readily yield to criminal sug- 
gestion, If his results in this direction were nil, 
he might be pardoned for referring with some 
scorn to the “laboratory crimes” committed by 
those better-principled individuals who were 
made the subjects of experiment by Bernheim 
and Liegeois, It was noticeable that the latter 


1 8 A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 

based their conclusion upon the untenable ground 
that if a hypnotized person could be induced to 
strike a man in the back, for example, under 
cover of the laboratory, and in presence of the 
hypnotist and his friends,’ therefore that person 
might also be induced to repeat that action, or 
even commit murder, at a time when the pro- 
tection and influence of the hypnotist was with- 
drawn. It was self-evident that such a conten- 
tion would not bear scrutiny, the less so in that 
the latter experiment was not, and could not be, 
put to the test. It was apparent to the barrister- 
at-law that each and all of these investigators 
could not be absolutely right in his theories, 
and this self-constituted judge of the results of 
their life-long labors, felt himself justified in 
withholding his verdict until he had found time 
to sift the matter of the evidence more thor- 
oughly by conducting a series of experiments 
himself. He therefore informed his friends that 
he was about to turn hypnotist “for fun,” and 
advised them to come forward fearlessly and 
be experimented on in the cause of scientific 
investigation. Their unwillingness to avail 
themselves of the opportunity thus afforded them 
must be attributed less to their aversion to the 


A FIRST SUCCESS 


19 


cause of progress than to their want of confi- 
dence in the operator, for it is a lamentable fact 
that he found no disciples among his acquaint- 
ance. Buojed up, however, by the reflection 
that he was in pursuit of Truth and seemed in a 
fair way to induce that coy damsel to show her 
face, he relaxed not his efforts until fortune 
threw in his way a lady who had suffered for 
years from direful nervous headaches. 

“Upon all nervous complaints and affections 
whatsoever,” said Richard, “ hypnotism, madam, 
has a powerful effect. 1 do not think that it will 
be necessary in your case to repeat the sitting. 
One experiment will be sufficient to induce sleep, 
and to remove the ailment from which you 
suffer. Be seated. Now if you will give me 
your whole attention, I shall send you quietly to 
sleep as you sit in this chair before me, and by 
the power vested in me to alleviate suffering of 
whatever nature, I shall send you forth at the 
close of the seance, caroling blithe and gay.” 

His fantastic address had an unfortunate and 
unforeseen effect upon his patient. She became 
hysterical, and begged to be taken away. Her 
lady companion endeavored to soothe her,with- 
out avail, and Richard has since confessed that 


20 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


if he had notrisen to the occasion he might then 
and there have been compelled to forever re- 
nounce h3^pnotism. 

“Not a word!” he cried, dictatoriall3\ “What! 
Is this woman actually weeping — for what, in 
Heaven’s name, for what? Stop it, this in- 
stant! Stop it, I say.” 

Much frightened, the lady did as she was bid, 
her sudden fear for the operator’s sanity con- 
quering her dread for herself. 

“Well done,” said Richard, genially. “I 
thought I was dealing with a sensible woman 
and not with a weak, foolish creature, whose 
nerves were unstrung at the sound of a man’s 
voice. Madam, your nerves are of iron, and 
I congratulate you heartil3\ I may tell you that 
your cure is assured. You see that you have 
nothing to be afraid of. You are in 3’our own 
house; your servants are within call. Finally, 
I am neither murderer nor thief, but a simple 
gentleman who would do you some service if 
you will allow him. Because all rests with your- 
self. I cannot hypnotize you against your will, 
nor can any one else do so, whatever the trav- 
eling hypnotist, the pseudo-‘professor, ’ may 
tell you. I hope to live long enough to expose 


A FIRST SUCCESS 


21 


their so-called wonders, and to confouna their 
trickeries. Make yourself quite comfortable in 
that chair. A cushion behind your head? No? 
Then let us begin. Fasten your eyes on mine, 
please, and give me your right hand. Thank 
you. Now, not a word. Absolute silence is 
best. Should you fail to be affected by the 
method of fascination, I shall employ verbal 
suggestion, and if that produces no result, I 
shall mesmerize you by the long pass.” 

Whether his intention was to suggest to her 
that his resources were so many that to escape 
sleep was, for her, impossible, or whether he 
really intended to employ these various methods, 
will not be known, because the patient succumbed 
to the influence of fascination after five minutes’ 
steady gazing, during which the ticking of the 
clock was the only sound that broke the still- 
ness. Her eyes filled with tears, and with a 
deep sigh she closed them, opened them spas- 
modically, and shut them again. 

“Closed tight,” said Richard slowly, “tight. 
Tighter. Tighter. Stuck fast with glue. You 
cannot open them. Try! You cannot open 
them. You cannot. Try again! It is no use. 
Your eyes are shut fast, and you are fast asleep. 


22 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


Sleep now. Sleep deeply. That is well. Very 
well. You want to sleep; you are asleep; pro- 
foundly asleep; but you hear niy voice; you 
hear me speaking to you; you can answer me; 
you can speak; you want to speak; you are 
quite comfortable; you are quite happy; are 
you not? Speak.” 

After two or three ineffectual attempts the pa- 
tient in a weak voice replied, “Yes.” 

“Quite so,” continued Richard. “You are 
very comfortable. You are going to be a splen- 
did subject. I shall wake you in a little while, 
and after you wake, when you see me rub my 
hands together you will fall sound asleep again. 
Do you hear me?” 

“Yes,” she said, with more distinctness. 

“When I rub my hands together you will 
fall asleep again. Now you have had a nice 
rest. You feel much refreshed. You are going 
to wake up when I count five. When I count 
five you will wake feeling much refreshed. 
One, wake up. Two, wake up. Three, wake 
up feeling well. Four, quietly waking up. 
Five, you are awake.” 

The lady’s eyes opened, and she smiled 
pleasantly upon Richard. 


A FIRST SUCCESS 


23 


“It was very curious,” she said; “you seemed 
to turn into a white figure and then to fade 
away, and I went fast asleep. 1 must be a very 
weak creature.” * 

“Madam,” said Richard impressively, “the 
ability to make oneself passive, and so to yield 
to hypnotic influence, is characteristic of two 
classes of people, the strong willed and the 
weak. I do not consider you weak, by any 
means. You must remember that if you were 
of such a flighty, hysterical temperament that 
you were unable to fix your mind upon one ob- 
ject for the required length of time, I should 
not have been able to hypnotize you. But,” he 
continued, beginning to rub his hands together, 
“you have justified my confidence in you to 
such an extent that you are — ah — you are in 
point of fact very sleepy — very sleepy, sound 
asleep. Do you remember that I ordered 3^00 
to sleep when I rubbed my hands?” 

“Yes,” replied the lady, whose e3^es had 
been previously fixed upon the operator’s hands, 
and who was now breathing deeply with her 
eyes shut. 

“You remember that perfectly, and having 
accepted my suggestion that you would sleep. 


24 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


you are now literally obeying it. That is very 
satisfactory. In your obedience to all the sug- 
gestions I give 3^ou lies the secret of my power 
to^cure you. I am going to take away your 
headaches now, so that they will never return 
to you. Do 3mu hear me?” 

“Of course I hear you,” said the patient 
sharply. 

“Am I speaking too loud?” 

“You seem to me to be shouting.” 

“Then I shall whisper,” said Richard loudly. 
“Now you can hardly hear me. The sound 
is very faint.” 

The patient inclined her head after the man- 
ner of one attempting to catch an indistinct re- 
mark. 

“You can hardly hear me,” continued Rich 
ard, raising his voice still higher. “You can 
just hear me whispering to you?” 

“Speak a little louder,” said the patient. 

“I will,” said Richard, dropping his voice to 
its normal tone. “Now you hear distinctly. 
Every word that I say to you is clear and forci- 
ble. You grasp its meaning and power instantly. 
Each sentence is a command which you will 
carryout exactly and literally. Your headaches 


A FIRST SUCCESS 


25 


will not return. They cannot return. I have 
removed them,^’ he said, stroking her forehead, 
“absolutely. They can never return. You 
have no headache now. You feel no pain any- 
where. You are well and strong. Well and 
strong. Are you not?” 

“Yes, I feel very well,” replied the patient. 

“You have no pain whatever? Answer me.” 

“None.” 

“And you never will have a return of head- 
ache, or nervous conditions of the mind which find 
an expression in pain again. Remember that. 
You will be perfectly well. Absolutely healthy. 
When you wake you will feel quite well, but 
you will not remember an^^thing that has been 
said to you during your sleep. Now take your 
own time to wake. Wake up when you feel in- 
clined to, and wake up smiling.” 

He pushed his chair back, looked at his 
watch, and sat down beside the patient’s lady 
friend, who had remained an interested but 
quiet spectator throughout the proceedings. She 
was a sensible and matter-of-fact woman, rather 
incredulous of the benefits to be derived from 
h3^pnotic treatment, but willing to investigate if 
the opportunity presented itself. 


26 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“ Will it disturb her if we talk?” she whis- 
pered, nodding in the direction of the sleeper. 

“I don’t think so,” Richard replied, ^‘al- 
though she would answer me if I spoke to her 
even now.” 

“Do you think your suggestions will take 
effect?” 

“Certain of it.” 

“What makes you think so?” 

“Because,” said Richard, inclining his mouth 
close to her ear, “she believes them herself. 
That’s why. Her faith has cured her. She be- 
lieves in me. But if she had believed in herself, 
the effect would have been the same. I shall 
not tell her so, but as a fact, she has cured her- 
self.” 

“But you sent her to sleep!” 

“Oh, no. She sent herself to sleep. Keep it 
dark. She is not ready to hear the truth yet. 
Look at her; she is waking up.” 

The patient stirred in her chair, and half- 
opened her eyes. Then she turned her head to- 
wards the couple on the sofa and smiled brightly. 

“ How do you feel,” asked Richard, “ better ?” 

“I feel very well,” she answered. 

“Has your headache gone?” inauired her 
friend. 


A FIRST SUCCESS 


27 


“I don’t feel anything the matter,” replied 
the patient, laughing. “I do think you must 
have bewitched me, Mr. Robinson.” 

“It is a remarkable power,” said the unblush- 
ing Richard. “You will never again suffer from 
those headaches. Do you remember m}^ speak- 
ing to you when you w^ere asleep?” 

“No,” she said, after reflection. “I can re- 
member things becoming a blank. Why — I 
declare — I must have been to sleep twice.” 

“Total forgetfulness during hypnosis,” said 
Richard, “a somewhat rare condition in the first 
experiment. Amnesia is more often the result 
of repeated trials. Well, I must leave you. 
Really you are to be congratulated, madam. You 
will be a valuable hypnotic subject. Sense delu- 
sions, amnesia and profound sleep present on a first 
attempt. I have no doubt you would have proved 
cataleptic also if I had put it to the test, and 
by suggestion, or perhaps without it, I could 
have induced anaesthesia, or insensibility to 
pain. This is very interesting.” 

“I hope you didn’t run any pins into me!” 
exclaimed the lady. 

“No,” said Richard, with an accent of regret, 
“I forgot. However,” taking up his hat, “we 
may try that some other day.” 


28 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“Oh, please don’t,” she said. “I detest any- 
thing like that. It makes me shudder.” 

“Well, well,” he said, as he t(K)k his leave, 
“ we will let that go, then. Don’t hesitate to 
send for me if you feel any return of pain at 
any time; but I don’t think such necessity will 
arise. If you would like to go further into the 
question of h3^pnotic phenomena I shall be very 
glad to try a few harmless experiments, but that 
is a matter for you to decide.” 

“I am very grateful to you,” she replied, 
“and if m}’’ headaches do not return, I will 
allow you to try your experiments some other 
evening when you have time to call.” 

“Thank you,” said Richard. “I shall en- 
deavor to steal an hour from my work and 
take advantage of your offer.” 

“Now,” he said to himself, as he gained the 
street, “here have I found, ready to my hand, a 
valuable subject, an imaginative woman of 
fair intellect. It will be my own fault if I do not 
make the most of this opportunity.” 


INTERLOG UE. 


Having satisfactorily disposed of Richard for 
the time being, I leaned back in my chair and 
lit a cigarette, feeling that a little relaxation was 
due me. 

“And I suppose,” said a soft voice at mj^ 
ear, whose tones quickened my pulse, “that 
you have been idling your time as usual.” 

“Your supposition is erroneous, princess,” I 
retorted, without turning m}^ head. “Read 
here,” and I pointed to the manuscript, which 
she took in her hand, while 1 lazily watched the 
varying expression on her face as she read. It 
is her habit to criticise my work freel}^ and I 
gathered from familiar signs that she was not well 
pleased with the chapter. The rapidity with 
which she turned over the sheets warranted the 
belief that she was indulging in the reprehensi- 
ble habit of skipping, and I said so briefly. 

“There is a good deal of Richard Robinson 
here,” she said disparagingly, as she laid the 

manuscript on the desk again. 

29 


30 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“He is an interesting character,” I inter- 
rupted. 

“ — But very little of Rachel Deverest!” 

“Her time has not arrived. The entrance of 
the heroine upon the scene must be carefully 
led up to. Don’t hurry me, please.” 

“Who is this Richard intended to represent ?” 
she asked, waiving the point, 

I bowed. She smiled severely. 

“Always when you smile like that,” I said, 
“I become clairvoyant. I know what will fol- 
low.” 

“Is this a perverted Richard?” she inquired, 
tapping the manuscript. 

“No, the real, genuine, every-day article,” I 
retorted. 

“Will he continue, then, throughout the book 
as he is here represented?” 

“He will. As per advertisement. If not sat- 
isfactorjq mone}^ refunded.” 

“But this is not jmu — it is not your charac- 
ter.” 

“No, it is something commoner, something 
grosser, but there is still a likeness. True, he 
lacks a little of my delicacy of touch, but — ” 

She stopped me with a gesture. “That is not 


INTERLOGUE 


31 


ray raeaning,” she said. “This Richard who 
removes nervous headaches and other com- 
plaints by stroking the foreheads of the sufferers 
is no one I know. You do not talk like him, and 
I am glad to think that I was not aware that 
there was any other parallel possible between 
you.” 

“Now what on earth do you mean?” I asked, 
both nettled and puzzled. “What are you glad 
about? What are you not aware of? And 
what, oh, what, is the parallel?” 

“Have you been in the habit of stroking 
women’s foreheads, patting their hands, and 
smoothing their cheeks?” she asked. 

“Oh,” said I, “1 begin to see light. Why, 
yes, I usually employ such methods if I wish to 
hypnotize a woman. It is considered soothing 
and quieting, I understand.” 

“I don’t wish you to suppose,” she said, 
“that I am— jealous of such things. It is not 
that. I do not care enough for you to be jeal- 
ous. But if you ever expect to be anything 
more to me than you are now, you must give 
up hypnotizing.” 

“Have you any objection to my stroking a 
man’s forehead ?” 


32 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“You would like to think me jealous,” she re- 
plied. “I am* not. But when I read what you 
had written it seemed to me that you were 
cheapening yourself ratker in the matter of ca- 
resses.” 

I wheeled my chair round to face her. “You 
hit hard,” I said, reddening with annoyance. 

“I am accustomed to speak my mind,” she 
said. “To quote your own words, my habit of 
calling a spade a spade is praiseworthy. Must 
you feel irritated if the truth, as I seedty^s un- 
palatable to 3^011?” 

“Hang it all,” I said, driven into a corner, 
“this is supposed to be a histoiy, not a romance. 
You told me to stick to facts, and because I do 
so, you find fault with me.” 

“It is more than a history,” she said curtl3q 
“it is a revelation.” 

“Of crime perfectly hideous to contemplate,” 
I added. 

“Would you like me to do as you have 
done?” she asked. “Should I not lose some- 
thing of delicacy, refinement, call it what you 
will, if I employed these means even to benefit 
my friends?” 

“It would depend entirely,” said I, “upon 


INTERl.OGUE 


33 


whether they were your male or female acquaint- 
ance. Surely you are unreasonable, seriously 
speaking.” 

“I am not,” she said with conviction. “The 
clown on the butterfly’s wing is not more finely 
shaded than a woman’s sensibilities. I am afraid 
that if I saw a man whom I was fond of so dis- 
porting himself he would become common in 
my eyes. He would seem to be — anybody’s 
propert}^ not mine at all. Every woman would 
feel the same shrinking, but they would be tol- 
erant perhaps-, and I could not be.” 

“There is just one thing that strikes me with 
singular force,” I cried; “if this is our ten min- 
utes’ refreshment the effect of the interval is not 
exhilarating to the writer.” 

“That can be very easily remedied,” she re- 
plied, moving away. 

“Stop!” I exclaimed, detaining her. “Heav- 
ens, do you wish to drive me mad. Have it your 
own way. I don’t care tuppence if I never 
hypnotize another woman as long as I live. And 
as for this infernal manuscript — it can go into 
the fire. I shall burn it.” 

“You will do no such thing,” she cried, 
“why, I am delighted with it.” 


34 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


I have long ceased to be surprised at this 
lady’s changes of front, but I needed a little 
time to recover my serenity at this juncture. 

“You might have mentioned it a little earlier,” 
I remarked at length. 

She laughed. “The sugar-plum is given after 
the dose.” 

“I can still taste the medicine.” 

“The bitter is wholesome, boy,” she said mis- 
chdevousl 3 % “I hope you will always taste it— 
a little. Now you feel rested, don’t you? You 
feel as if you could write the next chapter. You 
feel that you must write at once. Take up your 
pen.” 

“Your suggestions are not effective,” I said. 
“1 am no loup'er enthusiastic.” 

o 

“But you must believe that you are,”she said, 
mimicking mj^ tones when I endeavor to im- 
press a patient. “You must believe it. You 
must encourage the thought. You want to 
write. Here is your pen. All thought tends 
to take form in action. Act then,” 

“You are an exasperating creature,” I cried. 
“I believe it is a rare pleasure to you to torment 
me.” 

“ It is good for you sometimes, but I was quite 
serious in what I said.” 


INTERLOGljji 


35 


“Well, well, I have capitulated once more.” 
“Absolutely?” 

“Absolutel}^ and without conditions.” 

“You need not adhere too closely to your re- 
solve,” she said, as she turned away. “You 
can hypnotize other women if it’s necessary. 
Only — you need not touch them, you know.” 

“I would rather die,” I cried recklessly. 
“Henceforth I am no more an operator.” 

“I think that would be best,” she admitted. 
“Good-bye.” 

“Good-bye. You are to make your entrance 
in this chapter.” 

“Let it be as dignified then as my exit now.” 


CHAPTER II. 


THE LINE OF WORK. 

Richard’s second seance was an event in his 
life history. Some few weeks after the occur- 
rences detailed in the previous chapter had hap- 
pened, he received a note from his lady patient 
conveying the following information: 

“A young friend of mine is visiting me at 
present whose case might be of interest to you. 
She has been suffering for nine years from a 
deafness which has affected one ear to such an 
extent that she can only hear through it by 
means of a trumpet. She has seen several spe- 
cialists, and they unite in saying that nothing can 
be done for her. They describe it as a nervous, 
not an organic, disease, and on those grounds 
pronounce it incurable. They terrify her by 
saying that it may in time affect the other ear. 
The curious point is that in a street-car or a 
railway train her hearing is quite good, just as 
perfect, in fact, as any one’s. She is quite willing 
to try any treatment that may be expected to be 


THE LINE OF WORK 


37 


of benefit, and if you would like to test your 
hypnotic power upon her, we shall be at home 
to-morrow evening. P. S. I have had no return 
of the headaches.” 

“Now would any one believe,” said Richard 
to himself, as he sat down to dash off an accept- 
ance of the invitation, “that these specialists 
could have been such asses as not to be able to 
distinguish between a mental and a physical 
ailment? — not to know that the treatment must 
fit the disease, and that psychic force only can 
reach the nerve centers? Of course she can be 
cured. I can cure her. But these specialists 
have, by their repeated suggestions that her case 
is hopeless, built up on a strong foundation her 
own conviction that nothing can be done for 
her. Her auto-suggestion must therefore be 
rather difficult to remove. However, I can re- 
move it, and it shall be done to-morrow evening. 
The note says nothing of the appearance of this 
damsel. I hope she’s good looking; it will 
make it more interesting.” 

On the following evening, therefore, he 
dressed himself with more than ordinary care, 
took dinner at his club, and, at nine o’clock, 
presented himself at the house of his lady pa- 


38 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


tient, Mrs. Rawlinson. He was the only guest, 
his hostess informed him, an announcement 
which suited the purpose of his visit, 

“I much prefer,” he said, “that an important 
experiment, such as this, should be undertaken 
as privately as possible. The presence of a 
skeptic is much to be dreaded in its influence 
upon the mind of the subject, especially if no 
attempt has previously been made to hypnotize 
her. Your friend is not here yet?” 

“Oh, Miss Deverest? Yes, she is upstairs. 
She will be down in a minute. I want a few 
minutes’ conversation with you before she comes. 
Tell me, how are you getting on with your ex- 
periments?” 

“Very well, I think,” he replied. “Had 
dozens of patients since I saw you last. You 
see, it has got noised abroad that I don’t charge 
anything for treatment, so these people have 
come to me as a sort of forlorn hope. They 
put it to themselves that if I can’t do them any 
good, I am not likely to do them any harm, 
and their pockets won’t suffer in any case. So 
on the whole I may say that business is brisk.” 

“What are these cases?” 

“ One’s an old man with neuralgic pains in the 


THE LINE OF WORK 


39 


back of his head. There are two others who 
are victims of insomnia. They are cured, both 
of them, but the old man is a tough subject. I 
put him in a chair, and gave him a brass button 
to look at. Told him to keep his eyes fastened 
on that button, and to rivet his whole attention 
upon it; not to let his mind wander from it for 
an instant. He obeyed me like a lamb, and for 
ten minutes the old man looked at the button, 
and I looked at the old man. Then he coughed 
and said, ‘It don’t seem to work, boss. ’ ‘There’s 
no hurry,’ I said, ‘take your time. You’re be- 
ginning to feel sleepy.’ ‘I can’t say I am,’ he 
said. ‘Your eyes are beginning to feel heavy,’ 
I went on. ‘You feel the need of sleep. You 
want to go to sleep. There is nothing difficult 
about it. Let yourself go.’ 

“The old man shook his head. ‘I don’t seem 
somehow^ to feel that way,’ he said. ‘But you 
will in a little while,’ I repeated. ‘Keep your 
mind on that button, and don’t argue with your- 
self, just go quietly to sleep now.’ Well, he 
tried for half an hour, more or less, and then he 
got up and said he’d have to go home. It wasn’t 
natural for him to sleep, he said, while any one 
was glaring at him; it kept him awake. I told 


40 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


him to come the next day, and when he arrived 
I gave him the button again to look at and went 
out of the room, telling him that he would be 
asleep before I returned, and that my entrance 
would not rouse him. In about twenty minutes 
I came back and found him wide awake. He 
told me that the thought of my return to the 
room was constantly with him, and drove away 
sleep. I sent him away after informing him 
that on the morrow I should mesmerize him by 
psychic force. He seemed incredulous, but evi- 
dently did not know w'hat I was talking about. 
This ignorance on his part was sufficient, as 
you will see, to create an impression. When he 
was again in the chair before me I asked him 
solemnly if he ever had seen the effect of mes- 
merism upon man, and he replied that he had 
only seen a professor of hypnotism do some 
curious things at a public performance. T told 
him that mesmerism was a powerful force seldom 
brought into play, but which was developed 
through exercise of the will; a force which I 
possessed myself to a remarkable degree. 

'‘Then I darkened the room by pulling down 
the blinds, and advised him not to feel alarmed at 
an}^ sensations he might experience during the 


THE LINE WORK 


41 


treatment, explaining that though they would 
be powerful, without doubt, he would feel no 
after inconvenience from them. ‘Before I mes- 
merize a patient,’ 1 said, ‘I make a practice 
of strengthening the nervous system by magnet- 
ism. Give me your thumbs.’ The old gentleman 
didn’t seem to enjoy the idea of submitting to 
this process, but I suppose he thought he might 
iS well keep his objections to himself for the 
present. So I sat down in a chair facing him, 
pressed m}^ knees against his, and taking. his 
thumbs, looked hard into his eyes. ‘Be passive 
and quiet,’ I said. ‘You want to talk, to argue, 
to analyze your sensations. You want to say 
that you don’t believe this or that has an effect 
upon you. Don’t do this. Don’t think of any- 
thing. Be quiet and receptive. You will feel 
a pricking sensation in your thumbs in a little 
while. That is the magnetic current passing 
from m}^ body to yours. I can feel it leaving me 
now. According to your own attitude of mind 
you will feel it strongly or faintljL It depends 
on yourself. But if you resist, I shall compel 
you to receive it.’ This had a little effect upon 
the old gentleman, and in a little while he said 
he felt his left thumb tickling. ‘That is because 


42 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


the current is entering you on the left side,’ I 
told him, ‘and it will make a circuit of our bod- 
ies in a few minutes. You will feel it extending 
up the left arm ; feel a pain in the muscle of the 
arm first, then in the shoulder, then a warmth 
down the spine. You are taking magnetism 
from me now in the form of an invisible fluid. 
You feel it now distinctljM’ Yes, he admitted 
that he felt all the symptoms and asked if it would 
do him any good. I said it had great curative 
force in itself, but that its best effects were noted 
in connection with mesmeric sleep, into which 
state he would pass in a short while. ‘Now,’ I 
said, ‘you have had enough magnetism. Your 
nervous system is sufficiently braced to permit 
me to proceed. Lie down here,’ and I made 
him comfortable on the sofa. ‘I could have 
mesmerized you if you had remained in the 
chair,’ I said, ‘but the long pass which I am 
going to employ in your case is always effective. 
It induces sleep invariably, and I use it upon 
patients who show themselves to be unaffected 
by other methods.’ Then I began to pass my 
hands very slowly from the crown of his head 
to the soles of his feet, bending over him, and 
never taking my eyes from his. Each pass took 


THE LINE OF WORK 


43 


about thirty seconds. Do you find this experi- 
ment tedious in its narration?” 

“I am most interested,” said Mrs. Rawlinson; 
“pray go on. Did he sleep after all?” 

“Oh yes, he slept,” said * Richard. “He 
believed, you see, that he couldn’t help going to 
sleep, and the result followed as a matter of 
course. I didn’t mean to tell you the truth 
quite so soon, however. The fact is, the only 
difference with respect to your case and his, lay 
in this, that you made yourself passive at once, 
and he arrived at the same state with difficulty.” 

“But you are destroying my faith in the mar- 
velous,” she replied. “I don’t wish to believe 
that there is no such thing as animal magnetism. 
I like to think that by some mysterious influence 
you sent me to sleep, and removed my head- 
aches.” 

“Believe it, if you wish to,” said Richard, 
“but I thought you would prefer knowledge to 
faith.” 

“No. I like mystery. All women do, I think. 
You will spoil your w'ork if you try to explain 
its results on natural grounds. Why did you 
tell me this? Now I shall not be able to get any 
satisfaction out of the thought that I am different 


44 


A STUDY IN hypnotism 


from other people. Can any one be hypnotized 

“About ninety per cent. But you need not 
accept this as an explanation of the induction of 
hypnotic, mesmeric, or magnetic sleep,” said 
Richard. “I am only telling you the effect of 
accumulated suggestion upon this old man. 
Simple suggestion, you see, had no effect upon 
him. He was not impressed by it. When he 
was sufficiently impressed, he slept. You can 
still believe, if you desire, that he yielded to 
my mesmeric power. I am compelled to think 
that the effect produced was through himself 
alone, and that his concentrated thought, aided 
by his expectation of sleep, produced sleep 
through a lessening of the circulation of blood 
in the brain, which is the most important condi- 
tion of ordinary sleep.” 

“I shall believe in mesmerism, nevertheless,” 
replied Mrs. Rawlinson; “it is more satisfying 
to the imagination.” 

“As you will. At all events, the old gentle- 
man slumbered, and so deeply that he was 
incapable of responding to a suggestion. His 
whole body was relaxed, and he could not obey 
suggestions. I raised his arm, and suggested 
that it was rigid, and would remain in the posi- 


/ 


THE LINE OF WORK 45 

tion in which I placed it; it fell to his side as 
soon as I removed my hand. He did not betray 
by so much as a nod of the head that he heard 
my voice, but he carried out the suggestion that 
he would sleep for half an hour and awake much 
refreshed. He was greatly pleased with himself 
when he awoke, and described his sensations 
of falling to sleep as very curious. He could 
feel, he said, when his eyes were shut, the effect 
of every pass I made over his body. At first it 
was like little pin pricks here and there, but 
afterwards a feeling of deep repose, with unwill- 
ingness and even inabilit}^ to move, came over 
him. He heard my voice, he said, and remem- 
bered everything I said to him, but felt unable 
to obey. He was too lazily inclined to even 
raise his arm or nod his head. I told him that 
I had purposely avoided giving him any sugges- 
tions about his neuralgic pains until he was 
mesmerized again, more completely, but I said 
that he would find the pain much lessened even 
now. He agreed that it was better, and that is 
as far as I have gone with him. He comes to 
me to-morrow for his second treatment.” 

“And what about those two cases of insomnia 
you spoke of?” 


46 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“Both cured,” said Richard, “by simple 
suggestion. Both are young men, curiously 
enough, unaccustomed to the use of stimulants, 
and not suffering from the effects of the excessive 
use of any drug, cocaine, morphine, oranj^thing 
of that kind; just nervous exhaustion, and brain 
worry. One of them got no further than the 
drowsy state, but I suggested to him repeatedly 
in that condition the fact that he would sleep 
that night, and sleep soundly for six hours, and 
that he would return to me on the following 
morning. He came back at the time appointed 
and said he had had a good sleep the preceding 
night, but did not know how long it lasted. 
Put him into the drowsy state again, and sug- 
gested over and over again that he would sleep 
normally, and would not be troubled with insom- 
nia again. Explained the physiological con- 
dition of sleep to him as well as I could, and 
told him not to come back to me any more, as 
it would not be necessary. He wrote me a few 
days ago saying that he was in good health, 
and sleeping splendidly. Very encouraging, 
isn’t it?” 

“Very. Do you think, then, that just a sug- 
gestion given when a person is drowsy has so 
much effect?” 


THE LINE OF WORK 


47 


‘‘In man}^ cases a drowsy condition is all that 
is necessary in order to produce the after-effect 
desired. You see, hypnosis is not really sleep. 
Hypnotism is not even the induction of sleep. 
Hypnosis is a state of exalted receptivity of the 
mind. It is a state in which the mind is more 
impressionable than in the waking condition. 
When the waking consciousness is lulled into 
passivity, when there is least opposition to sug- 
gestion, then these suggestions will produce their 
best effect. In some cases that passivity may be 
present without sleep, even without drowsiness, 
as in the case of persons who are said to be 
easily led or influenced by others. They will 
take suggestions up to a certain point when they 
are fully awake. For instance, you know that 
you can reason some people into a belief that a 
certain duty which the}^ dislike to perform is 
really an occasion of enjoyment; you can make 
them believe, if you stick at it long enough, 
that they really do enjoy it without knowing it, 
and having led them to that conclusion you can, 
by iteration and positive assertion, rouse this 
suggested condition of enjoyment into activity. 
It may be that the argument or lever which is 
most effective in such a case is the insinuation 


48 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


t 


thnt the performance of that particular duty is 
something which is much coveted by another. 
It doesn’t matter what lines of argument may 
be adopted, the fact remains that it can be done, 
and tliese persons are hypnotized while in a 
waking condition into believing that they like 
to do a thing which they had previously experi- 
enced a distaste for.” 

“They must be very weak persons mentally,” 
said Mrs. Rawlinson. 

“Let us call them very impressionable,” said 
Richard. “I merely wanted to make plain the 
first principle of hypnosis. Now with respect 
to the average man or woman it is necessary 
before they can be made to believe something 
which is contrary to their previous opinion, that 
that previous opinion, or auto-suggestion, be 
lulled and quieted. The state in which the mind 
is most open to accept impressions from the 
outside is the state of sleep. Then the auto- 
suggestiG.: is least active. It is never destroyed, 
as I slnill show you some dajq I hope, but it is 
least active. Now if you follow me here you 
can understand why it is that it is necessar}’ to 
induce profound sleep in some persons before 
the desired effects of therapeutic suggestion are 


THE LINE OF WORK 49 

arrived at, and why in others only a light sleep 
or even drowsiness is all that is required.” 

‘‘Because in the one case the convictions are 
more deeply rooted than in the other,” said his 
hostess. 

“Exactly. Because the auto-suggestion is 
more difficult to overcome in certain people. 
But it also happens that in some simple cases 
suggestions given and accepted during profound 
sleep, fail in their therapeutic effect, and when 
this is the case the only conclusioii to be drawn 
is that the patient is either suffering from a dis- 
ease which will not yield to mental treatment, 
or that his excessive objectivity, that is, his in- 
ability to believe what I tell him, his absence 
of faith in me and in himself, causes him, un- 
consciously, perhaps, to employ his auto-sug- 
gestion to resist the treatment. Remember that 
this resistance to suggestion does not imply 
strength of will, or of character. It is a fact that 
a perfectly healthy man or woman makes the 
best hypnotic subject. Such persons command 
themselves to be passive, and they are so. They 
reason on the matter to the extent of knowing 
that they can exercise the power to submit 
which is inherent in them.” 


50 A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 

“So they agree to let themselves be domi- 
nated by another?” 

“They are not actually dominated,” said 
Richard. “They are in a condition of mind in 
which they may be guided to their own advan- 
tage. The will may be stimulated. An impulse, 
which in their waking condition was only an 
impulse, dismissed before it developed into a 
desire, may be strengthened by hypnotic sug- 
gestion into a determination. But when you 
speak of dominating you imply that the subject 
or patient may be compelled by this influence 
to perform some action contrary to his inclina- 
tion or instinct when in the waking condition. 
Neither hypnotic nor mesmeric influence, if 
there is such a thing, can accomplish this. It is 
an old cry, and a popular one, that the hypnotized 
person is an automaton, a helpless, irresponsible 
being, the creature of the hypnotist; that his will 
is not only in subjection to the other, but that 
his state of bondage is likely to grow upon him, 
and that he can be reduced to the same condition 
by a word or gesture from his master. That this 
is quite an erroneous supposition I have proved 
for myself, and I find all modern authorities are 
in accord in stating that the free-will of the sub- 


THE LINE OF WORK 


51 


ject is not destroyed, either during the seance, or 
subsequent to it. The subject submits to be 
hypnotized in the first place. He cannot be 
affected in the least degree if he makes up his 
mind that he will not submit to the process. In 
spite of the absurd things he may consent to do 
upon the platform at the bidding of the hypnotist, 
he is a responsible agent, and he will neither 
endanger his own life, nor perform any action 
contrary to his principles.” 

“But these are only assertions,” said my 
hostess, “and although I grant that your experi- 
ence may warrant them, there is no proof in 
them for me.” 

“No, but I came across a piece of evidence 
the other day in a work on hypnotism,” said 
Richard, “which struck me with special force 
in its bearing on this point. It is tolerably con- 
vincing.” 

“Just excuse me for a moment, she said, “I 
can’t think what is keeping Rachel. I want to 
hear your story, but I am ashamed to have for- 
gotten her all this while.” 

She left the room, and returned in a few min- 
utes with the information that her friend felt so 
tired that she had gone to bed, but hoped that 


52 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


the experiment would keep for another evening. 

“She is quite unconventional,” said Mrs. 
Rawlinson, “and it would seem to her the most 
natural thing in the world to obe}^ her impulse. 
I hope you don’t feel yourself cheated.” 

“I am quite comfortable, thanks,” said 
Richard, with a smile ; “ nothing pleases me more 
than to hold forth on this subject to an appre- 
ciative listener, and I think you are interested 
in h3^pnotism, are you not?” 

“Very much. It is still mysterious to me, 
and will always be so, I think.” 

“It can be quite as interesting, I assure you,* 
even when the myster}? is dissolved. However, 
as to this piece of evidence. You must know 
that hypnotic subjects undergo a long course of 
training in the production of phenomena, and — 
I speak of those emplo^^ed by professional men, 
whether they are traveling h3^pnotists, or hos- 
pital surgeons demonstrating scientific facts to 
their classes — these subjects become valuable in 
proportion to their intelligence as somnambulists. 
A good somnambulist has a certain value in cash. 
Now you would infer that if the will of the sub- 
ject was weakened by repeated experiments, he 
would become the property of the hypnotist 


THE LINE OF WORK 


53 


who emplo3^ed him. You would not suppose that 
a mere offer of so much more mone}^ from an- 
other, and perhaps a rival, hypnotist would have 
power to break the chain that binds him. Yet it 
is a fact that just so soon as the trained subject 
can better his material position he breaks with 
his old master and goes over to the other side. 
To get the full force of this you must remember 
that the traveling h^^pnotist is not likely to be too 
scrupulous in his arguments towards detaining 
this human property. All that can be done in 
the way of impressing and terrifying his subject, 
even to the exercise of force, he ma}^ be trusted 
to try; but the self-interest of the latter proves 
too powerful for the influence of the other, and a 
matter of a little money is enough to part them. 
Does it not seem to you that the compulsory 
obedience theory is untenable? If it does not 
bore you too much I will come in to-morrow 
evening, and we can continue this talk,” said 
Richard, as he took his departure. “Perhaps, 
too, your friend will be willing to undergo the 
experiment then.” 

“ I know she will be delighted, and you could 
not possibly bore me with this topic. Come in 
to-morrow, and any other evening you like. 
Thank you so much} good-bye.” 


INTERLOGUE. 


“I AM very sorry,” I said, turning round, 
“but I have not been able to work you in yet,” 
and lest any one may consider the remark incon- 
sequent it may be added that I had heard her 
footsteps in the room some five minutes previous- 
ly, and that she was sitting a little distance 
away, doing some embroidery work, or sewing 
of some kind. 

“How much have you written?” she asked, 
stooping to bite a thread. 

“Look out, you’ll break your teeth. I have 
written another chapter — a long one.” 

“Two chapters, and I am not ‘worked in,’ as 
you call it, yet? Perhaps I am not a necessary 
ingredient after all.” 

“On the contrarj^ the other characters will 
revolve round you.” 

“And you will be the spoon to stir with?” 

“My metaphor is a better one,” I said. “I 
likened you to a sun,” 

“I thought a haggis or a pudding more ap- 
54 


INTERLOGUE 


55 


propriate. You can ‘work in’ anything you 
like then, you know.” 

“Spoon is too suggestive,” I replied, taking 
a seat near her. “I am fagged to death. I can 
do no more to-day. Tired nature must have 
rest. Where’s your ear-trumpet?” 

Have I mentioned that this lady is only par- 
tially deaf? If not, let me explain that she is 
not compelled to use an ear-trumpet for ordinary 
purposes of conversation, and if I put my lips 
close to her left ear, so that her curls tickle my 
mouth and nose, she can hear me perfectly. As 
a rule I adopt the latter mode when we are 
alone, and reserve the ear-trumpet for public or 
semi-public occasions. But she sometimes insists 
upon my using this ear-trumpet for her own 
reasons. If it were not that her affliction has 
saddened and lined her beautiful face at an age 
when most women are in the full enjo3UTient of 
youth and vigor, by cutting her off from the 
world and forcing her back upon herself, I 
should take pleasure in the thought that even in 
this she is not as other women. I tell her that 
she wears that trumpet, a black snake-like instru- 
ment, with a most becoming grace, and that its 
use in public confers a distinction upon both of 


56 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


US. Moreover I derive a jealous satisfaction in 
the reflection that most of her friends have not 
learnt how best to speak through it. If they 
speak too loud, the noise jars upon her auditory 
nerves; if too low, she misses the point of the 
remark; whereas I have studied, and can 
therefore employ, the tone which is most pleas- 
ant to her. This makes her to a certain extent 
dependent upon me, which is a most satisfactory 
state of affairs, and one which I should be sorry 
for many reasons to disturb. I can make her 
hear every syllable when she is ten feet away if 
I am on her right side, but I much prefer to sit 
on her left, and forget casually to use the trum- 
pet. In disposition she is as indolent as I am 
myself, though I have impressed upon her the 
fact that I am at an}^ time ready and willing to 
conquer my instinctive aversion to labor. That 
I have not yet done so I turn to account as an 
argument in my favor by telling her that she has 
not yet shown sufficient interest in my career to 
encourage me to effort. 

“Will you put down that sewing,” I asked, 
“and talk to me?” 

“I have never been able to sew,” she replied, 
“this is crochet-work.” 


INTKRJuOGUK 


57 


“It looks very difficult; is it — ah — ^ useful?” 

“Both useful and ornamental.” 

“When you are a beautiful, white-haired old 
lady you will knit wonderful stockings, I ex- 
pect.” 

“I knit them now,” she said, “but I never 
wear them. I give them away to poor people 
who say, ‘God bless you, lady,’ and then I feel 
like a hypocrite.” 

“Why? Because the stockings are badly 
made?” 

“They are beautifully made. No, because I 
have only given them away to get rid of them. 
They are large and comfortable, of course, but 
very ugly. I could not possibly keep them.” 

“You have a pretty foot,” I said, laying down 
the ear-trumpet. , 

“1 think poor people, in spite of their suffer- 
ings, are greatly to be envied,” she remarked, 
absently. “Very little suffices to give them 
pleasure, and if they know pain, they can touch 
hands with happiness.” 

“Is happiness impossible for you?” I asked. 

“It seems very difficult to reach,” she replied 
with a pathetic little smile. “ I think, sometimes, 
my life is ended now. And I arq not thirty yet.” 

“Your life is just beginning,” I said. 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


58 

She shook her head. ‘‘I wish I were a really 
good woman — a religious woman. I should like 
to be able to believe all was for the best. If I 
could think even that I was expurgating some 
hideous offense committed in a previous exist- 
ence, I could bear it better. Things would not 
seem so unjust.” 

“You’ve got a fit of the blues,” I said cheer- 
fully. “It will pass off. You’d better get your 
hat and come out for a walk.” 

“You don’t often see me like this.” 

“Not often, certainly. But I like to see that 
youYe flesh and blood sometimes.” 

“You have been sg good to me, ” she said, 
with a grateful smile. “I wonder w’hy you 
should. Why do you take all this trouble?” 

“If it were a trouble, I shouldn’t take it; it’s 
a pleasure, because I love you.” 

“I don't think so,” she said, seriously. “You 
are kind and thoughtful, but you don’t love me. 
There is something wanting.” 

“If you are under the delusion that I am try- 
ing to be a brother to you, or anything of that 
sort, let me disclaim the honor at once. My 
aims are more selfish.” 

“I think you ^re only studying me psycholog- 
ically.” 


INTERLOGUE 


59 


‘‘You are certainly a problem, but if you 
were not physicall}^ beautiful I am afraid I 
should have given it up long ago.” 

“But we have nothing in common. You are 
English, I am American. I like my country, 
you like yours. Say that we have a few tastes 
in harmony, that is not enough.” 

“We are harmoniously constituted,” I said; 
“we are both very lazy.” 

“I am not,” she cried. 

“Pardon me, you are quite the idlest person 
I know. You make a business of doing nothing. 
That is why you refresh me so greatly.” 

“Why are you not ambitious?” she inquired. 
“If I had been born a man I would have cut 
my name in big letters before I had reached 
your age.” 

“I have seen my name in a newspaper,” I 
replied. “It is enough. Now there is but one 
advertising space that I would fill.” 

“What is that?” 

“Your heart.” 

“Oh, I can hear you quite well if you speak 
through the ear-trumpet,” she said. 

“You keep me at trumpet’s-length always,” 
I said,. with some dissatisfaction. ^ “I wish you 
would lose this instrument.” ^ 


6o 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


She laughed. ’‘Tell me really why you like 
me.’’ 

“Because, first, you are an American woman, 
and can therefore be frank without being un- 
womanly.” 

“That seems to reflect on j^our English girls.” 

“Perhaps I have been unfortunate in my ac- 
quaintance, but the general run seemed to me 
to have only one object in view.” 

“And that was?” 

“ Marriage.” 

“A compliment to your brother man then. 
Are all Englishmen as unchivalrous?” 

“I hope not. I love an Englishman above 
all other things created in man’s likeness.” 

“Let me hear his attributes.” 

“He is the most polite, and the most churlish 
beggar alive,” I said. 

“Don’t be so paradoxical. What else?” 

“And he prefers a pipe to an indifferent cigar. 
It is all summed up in that.” 

“A curious definition,” she said “It doesn’t 
satisfy me.” 

“I speak of the young Englishman of good 
family,” I added, “who emigrates. Those who 
stay at home^ and succeed in life, are a different 


INTERLOGUE 


6l 


race. Of those who emigrate, the majority play 
the fool, but the}^ do it grandl}^ and in fact 
show your countrymen how it should be done. 
They go direct to smash with a whole-hearted- 
ness that is without guile.” 

“What do they do then?” 

“I’he street-railways absorb them. The con- 
ductors and drivers are a very gentlemanly set 
of fellows, who are honestly endeavoring to live 
down an acquired thirst.” 

“And what did you do?” 

“I? Oh, I also emigrated, certainly. But I 
was ambitious. I bought a farm in Manitoba 
and worked. I did indeed. I sunk a cool thou, 
in that farm, and left them both behind me at 
the end of nine years. Then I wrote a book 
upon the subject of agriculture as it applied to 
3^oung Englishmen. I put my hero on a good 
farm, and ran him through four seasons. Sent 
him off his head a little in the second winter, 
and gave him one crop hailed out, and one 
frozen. Then I killed him with typhoid fever 
in the last chapter.” 

“You were romancing as usual.” 

“No, I was sticking to facts. Mice had fallen 
into his well, you know, and he drank the water. 


62 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


It often happens so up there. The cribbing of 
the well was defective.” 

“How very nasty! Is this book published?” 

“No, but it will be some day, and it will make 
some stir because people will sa}^ that it is so un- 
true. It is a fact, however. ignara 

loquor,''’"' 

“Then why did you stay there nine years?” 

“That I might patiently increase the mortgage 
on my property, and also — shall I confess it? — for 
the unworthy reason that I hated to be beaten.” 

“Ah, there is something in you after all, 
then.” 

“There was^ — there is not now, unless you 
choose to rekindle the spark with your breath. 
And that you may do so the more effectually, 
permit me to lay aside the ear-trumpet.” 

“I am afraid a puff might extinguish it alto- 
gether. Don’t pun upon the word ‘puff’ please, 
as I see you are about to do.” 

“I scorn it,” I said. “If you come to think of 
it, it is very curious that both your life and mine 
may be said to have ended on the narrow side 
of thirty. Evidently we have no right to be 
alive.” 

“You may begin again,” she said. 


INTERLOGUE 


63 


“Not alone,” I answered. 

“This is a long ten minutes, Mr. Robinson.” 
“How are your ‘blues,’ Miss Rachel?” 
“Much better, thanks. You can always amuse 
me.” 

“Even that is something. Let’s go fora walk.” 


CHAPTER III. 


SOMNAMBULISM. 

About this time a curious problem presented 
itself to Richard in connection with his work. 
Was over-confidence in hypnotism as a reme- 
dial agent a thing to be encouraged or avoided? 
He weighed the pro and con verj^ carefully and 
decided in favor of the former stale of mind. 
He argued that absolute confidence on the 
part of the operator produced, or at least en- 
couraged, a corresponding psychic condition in 
the patient, and that, on the contrary, advice to 
a sufferer to try hypnotic suggestion as a possi- 
ble remedy which could not in any case be 
productive of an aggravation of the disease, was 
not sufficiently comforting to be impressive. He 
had adopted the duality of mind hypothesis 
as the most perfect in all its bearings upon the 
human organism, physiologically or psycholog- 
ically considered, and consequently assumed 
that man was possessed of two minds, the ob- 
jective and the subjective. That the objective 


SOMNAMBULISM 


65 


or reasoning mind might be defined as the 
waking consciousness, a reasoning, inductive, 
and aggressive entity, while the subjective mind 
or soul, possessing independent powers of action, 
could also exert a full control over the objective 
mind. The objective powers were necessary 
but not absolute; the subjective were all-potent. 
Yet the subjective mind was constantly amena- 
ble to suggestion from within and from without. 
The objective memory was distinct from the sub- 
jective, being imperfect in its retention of im- 
pressions. The objective mind was mortal, the 
subjective immortal. The properties of the sub- 
jective mind were self-preservation, perpetua-. 
tion of the species, perfect memory, and a 
knowledge of the laws which govern the har- 
mony of sounds and colors. It was the fault of 
our system of education that in the civilized man 
the objective faculties were almost exclusively 
cultivated, while the subjective were permitted 
to rust. A man of genius was he in whom the 
subjective and objective powers were highly but 
not equally developed. If the .nice balance of 
the two minds were disturbed to the extent of 
giving the subjective full sway, the man was 
mad. If the subjective mind were given volun- 


66 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


tary control of the objective for a time, the man 
was a medium, a soothsayer, a hypnotic subject, 
a clairvoyant, or was simply asleep; if the con- 
trol were involuntary, a seizure of authority, in 
short, he was insane, reason had lost her throne. 

There were so many degrees of subjectivity, 
even in the waking man, that it seemed to Rich- 
ard the term “Hypnotism” was not sufficiently 
comprehensive to embrace that vast held of 
medical science which was becoming known as 
suggestive therapeutics. Very few people real- 
ized that the value of hypnotic suggestion as a 
curative agency was in direct proportion to the 
powers, not of the intellect, but of the soul plus 
the intellect. The word hypnotism meant, orig- 
inally, sleep, but a drowsy person might be 
subjective and might be healed or benefited by 
suggestion when sleep was out of the question. 
Seeing that the treatment of disease on these 
lines was a purely mental process, “Psychology” 
seemed the more appropriate designation. The 
employment of the word admitted the suprem- 
acy of the soul as the greatest force in man; 
the power of mind over matter; the potency of 
belief. Without belief there could no miracle 
be performed, but to them that believed all things 


SOMNAMBULISM 


67 


were possible. Given absolute belief either in 
his own power or in the power of a God, and 
the result expected would assuredly follow. It 
seemed easier for men to put absolute trust in 
a God, than to rest solely on the power contained 
in themselves. To go a step further and claim 
that their own souls were not only inspired by 
God, but were an inalienable part of this God- 
head, smacked of impiet}^ Yet if a man believed 
in God he should also believe in himself, for his 
soul, and his soul alone, is divine and immortal ; 
and his consciousness, which is a part of his soul 
or subjective mind, is likewise of necessity im- 
mortal, or so it seemed to Richard. He read 
Ingersoll, and found nothing in that great icon- 
oclast to conflict with the simplicities of his own 
faith. Ingersoll devotes his objective reasoning 
to the demolishing of the errors and superstitions 
piled up for centuries round the acknowledged 
Christian creeds. He denies the likeness to the 
true God in the human deity enthroned by men 
for worship. But he overlooks the fact that 
the real reason why he is branded atheist is 
that men are ignorant, not of the truths of his 
teaching, but of the powers of their own souls. 
Instinct alone would prevent a shipwrecked 


68 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


man from releasing his hold on a plank unless 
there were a life-buoy within his reach. Com- 
mercial instinct disapproves of surrendering 
something for nothing, and religion is the com- 
merce of souls. Ingersoll attempts to lay waste 
a spiritual piece of property, without giving, or 
even offering to give, compensation to the heirs. 
Therefore the heirs rise against him and dub 
him “infidel.” 

“I am convinced, ”said Richard to his friend 
Mrs. Rawlinson,to whom he unfolded his views 
on this matter, “that psychology will be the 
theology of the future. All other forms of belief 
will be swallowed up by this Aaron’s rod, for 
is not every creed, even at the present time, 
while men are 3^et groping blindly, founded 
upon psychology? It is only in the details of 
our belief that we differ. And hpynotism will 
play no small part in the revealing of the truth. 
Let me put it for jmu in the form of a parable. 
A certain man went forth to dig in his 3’ard;and 
as he labored diligently with the spade, he 
unearthed a gem of great splendor,and the light 
of the jewel blinded him. Then he threw away 
his spade, and gazed long at the precious stone. 
And he feared to touch it because his hands 


SOMNAMBULISM 


69 


were dirty. So he cleansed himself at the 
brook, and returned, and took the jewel and 
wore it, for it was his own, and many men 
wondered at the light of the jewel. And they 
said to him, ‘Where didst thou find this?’ And 
he answered, ‘In mine own garden.’ Then 
they labored each in his own plot, some with 
their hands and some with spade or shovel, and 
they unearthed jewels like unto the one which 
the man had found, and they sold the jewels or 
hid them away in secret places. But some there 
were who found nothing; and others said, ‘This 
man thinketh that he wears a jewel — ^lo, it is 
but glass!’ And they would not dig. But he 
who had found the precious gem wore it in the 
presence of all men and rejoiced in its radiance, 
for his heart was glad.” 

“Your parable is not difficult to read,” said 
Mrs. Rawlinson. “But what is the spade?” 

“Hypnotism,” said Richard, “a useful in- 
strument in psychic research.” 

“Why did the man throw it away?” 

“Because it was only an instrument. In the 
years to come there will be no need of hypno- 
tism. Men will touch the truth itself when their 
self-knowledge permits it. At the present time 


10 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


if you have a headache you use certain drugs to 
remove it, or you are hypnotized by some one, 
and he removes it by suggestion. Later on, 
say in five hundred years from now, if you lived 
and had a headache — ” 

“I should be rather old, should I not?” 

‘‘If you belonged to that generation, and had 
a headache, you would hypnotize yourself ; you 
would pass into the subjective ‘state, saying, ‘I 
will sleep for five minutes, and my headache 
w'ill be gone when I wake.’ It would disappear 
if you knew your own power, and therefore 
spoke with absolute faith in yourself. You 
would say, ‘It will never return,’ and it never 
would return. Carrying this point to its logical 
conclusion, you would not find it necessary even 
to pass into the sleep state to achieve the result. 
If you had the faith, or the knowledge of which 
the faith was born, the headache would disap- 
pear at the command of your subjective power.” 

“Where would this power end? I need never 
be ill.” 

“There will be no disease upon the earth in 
the days to come, but it will take more than five 
hundred years to build the new race, and make 
self-knowledge universal. Is your friend, the 


SOMNAMBULISM 7I 

deaf lady, willing to be hypnotized this even- 
ing?” 

“Yes. Do you think it would give her more 
confidence if I went under the influence first?” 

“I think it would, certainly. Before you 
call her I want to send you to sleep for five min- 
utes. Just look at me now. Look into m}^ eyes. 
You are not afraid ? You have full confidence 
in me, and know that hypnotism is not a thing 
to dread?” 

“Oh yes, I am not afraid; but it is because I 
think I know you; not because I understand 
hypnotism.” 

“You will understand it in a little while. You 
are quite easy in your mind, and quiet; calm 
and quiet. Rest so, and let your mind become 
a blank. My face will fade away from you in 
outline, and only my eyes remain. Then 3^ou 
will sleep. Your eyes are closing now. They 
are getting very heavy. Let them close. You 
are resting quietly; your legs and arms feel 
heavy and numb; your brain is quiet, and you 
are going sound asleep. Sleep quietl^L You 
are quite comfortable. How do you feel?” 

“Heavenly,” said the lady in a drowsj’ tone. 
“I — ” she did not finish the sentence, which 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


72 

ended in a deep sigh, her eyes closed, and her 
body relaxed. 

“You are asleep. Fast asleep, ’’said Richard. 
“Answer me.” 

“Yes.” 

“Your arm, j^our left arm, is getting stiff and 
rigid from the shoulder down. It is raising itself 
level with the shoulder.” 

He touched the arm, and it forthwith elevated 
itself at right angles to the body. 

“Your arm cannot be bent; it is hard and 
inflexible. You cannot lower it. Try.” 

The subject made ineffectual efforts to lower 
her arm, as could be seen by the expression on 
her face, and the quivering of the muscles of the 
body. 

“Now it is falling slowly to your side. Stiff 
from the shoulder.” 

The arm slowl}’ descended. 

“It is easy now, and all the muscles are re- 
laxed. There is no stiffness in it.” 

The arm became supple and soft again, and 
the subject moved it to and fro to assure herself 
that it was so. 

“You are fast asleep,” said Richard, “but 
you can open your eyes and see me. Open 
your eyes.” 


SOMNAMBULISM 


73 


The subject did so. The eyes had a dull in- 
ward look at first, but as he continued talking 
they assumed their normal expression, and the 
dilation of the pupils decreased naturally. 

“You can see me distinctl}^ It does not tire 
you in any way to keep your eyes open. They 
are quite strong and clear. You can wink when 
you want to. What do I look like to you?” 

“You are like a figure in white.” 

“No, I am black, but my hair is white. You 
see that my body is all black, and my skin is 
black. Quite black, but my hair is white. You 
see that?” 

“Yes,” she said, simply. “You are an old 
negro.” 

“Quite so. Now I pass my hands over my 
hair, thus, and it becomes dark again, while my 
face assumes its natural complexion, and Rich- 
ard is his own man again. The change is very 
natural. You know me now.” 

“You change very quickly,” she said. 

“But you are not surprised.” 

“Oh no. It is nothing.” 

“Quite so,” said Richard again. “Now you 
are about to get up and walk.” 

The subject shook her head in the negative. 


74 A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 

“You are going to walV,” he continued im- 
pressively. “Yon want to walk. You must 
walk. You cannot sit still any longer. Get up 
and walk across the room; keep your eyes 
open; look where you’re going to, and bring 
me a book from the shelf. Any book will do.” 

The subject rose slowly, and walked heavily 
to the bookcase, selected a book and brought it 
to Richard, standing quietly in front of him. 

“Bravo!” he said. “You see it is quite easy. 
You can walk perfectly well. You can see 
where you are going to. You are conscious of 
everything that is going on. Now you will walk 
upstairs and call your friend. Tell her to come 
down here to meet me. Don’t let her see that 
you are asleep. Talk brightly to her. Act just 
as if you were wide awake. Walk lightly and 
easil}^ Don’t thump about the place as if your 
boots weighed a ton. You walk ver}^ well, but 
walk lightly. It is quite easy. Go upstairs 
then, and call your friend. If you me«t any 
one on the w'ay, act and speak as if you were 
wide awake. Bring your friend down with you. 
Don’t leave her until she is ready to come. 
Bring her with you. Do you hear me?” 

“Yes.” 


SOMNAMBULISM 


75 


“You will remember all this?” 

“Of course.” 

“Very good. I shall sit here till you return. 
Then you must introduce me to your friend. 
It will be rather amusing altogether. Will it 
not ?” 

“Yes.” 

“Go then, and remember to be just like3mur- 
self. No Lady Macbeth severit}", if you please. 
Be lively and talkative.” 

The lady smiled and walked slowly to the 
door. Half-way up the stairs, which she climbed 
heavily, as if each motion required some thought, 
she met her friend descending, and Richard 
heard a light voice exclaim: 

“Here I am. Did you think I was never com- 
ing, Blanche?” 

“I was going to your room to look for 3^00,” 
was the reply, given in measured tones. “I 
should have waited till you were ready to come 
with me.” 

“I am all ready now. What’s the matter? 
Why do you look at me so?” 

“I want you to come down with me.” 

“Well, let us go, Blanche. Bless me, you 
are not displeased, are you?” 


76 A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 

“No. Let US go down.” 

“ Blanche, what’s the matter ? Aren’t you well ? 
Come back to my room.” 

“No, let us go down,” repeated Mrs. Raw- 
linson equably. “Come.” 

Very much mystified, and somewhat alarmed 
by the eccentric behavior of her friend. Miss 
Deverest suffered herself to be led to the sitting 
room, where a young man of medium height, 
and average appearance, was standing to receive 
them. She explained to him afterwards that her 
first view of the celebrated hypnotist was a 
disitnct disappointment to her. She had expected 
at least to be petrified by a Svengali eye, where- 
as the young man who was presented to her only 
differed from the general rush of mankind in 
that he wore his hair in a disheveled mass, and 
looked, after the first glance, not at her, but 
beyond her. His first impression differed some- 
what from hers, and he was generous enough 
to inform her later that she “ knocked him cold.” 
He apologized for the expression and explained 
that nothing else seemed so well to illustrate his 
feeling of the moment. “A feeling,” he said, 
“as if a bucket of ice-water had been thrown 
over me, followed by the application of hot 


SOMANMBULISM 


77 


cloths to the forehead. It was very curious. 

I am glad I didn’t betray it.” 

“I want to introduce you,” said Mrs. Rawlin- 
son, “to my friend Miss Deverest. Rachel, this 
is Mr. Robinson, the hypnotist, you know.” 

Having said this much in a matter of fact 
tone, the lady immediately sank into a chair and 
closed her eyes. 

“Good heavens I” said Miss Deverest, “what 
is the matter with you, Blanche? I am sure you 
are ill. Why, she’s asleep, or in a faint. She 
has fainted. Get some water, Mr. Robinson. 
Quick.” 

“Oh no, she’s all right, I assure you. Don’t 
be alarmed,” said Richard, “she is merely 
asleep. See if you can wake her.” 

“Blanche, Blanche!” she cried, shaking her 
by the shoulder gently. “Wake up! Are you 
ill.?” 

The sleeper betrayed no sign of consciousness, 
and did not respond to the shaking. 

“This is dreadful,” said Miss Deverest. “I 
don’t understand it at all. She cannot be 
asleep; she must have swooned.” 

“Allow me,” said Richard, impressively, 
going towards the sleeper and touching her 


78 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


forehead. “You have had a quiet sleep,” he 
said. “You feel much rested, and quite well. 
When you wake up you will have forgotten 
everything that took place between the time 
when you fell asleep and the time of your wak- 
ing. Wake up. Wake up quietly, feeling per- 
fectly well. Wake up — ” and he blew gently 
upon her eyelids. 

Mrs. Rawlinson stirred, smiled a little, and 
opened her eyes. As she looked round, her gaze 
rested upon Rachel. “Oh, so you came down- 
stairs after all,” she said. “I began to think 
Mr. Robinson would miss you a second time. 
Let me introduce you.” 

“We alread}^ know each other,” said Rich- 
ard. 

“Is it possible you have met before?” 

“Quite possible. You introduced us j^our- 
self.” 

“Why, Blanche,” broke in her friend in 
some alarm, “don’t you remember coming up- 
stairs to look for me, not five minutes ago?” 

“My dear girl, I have never been out of this 
room, as Mr. Robinson can testify.” 

“But you came upstairs, and met me coming 
down, and spoke to me,” cried Miss Deveres^ 


SOMOAMBULISM 79 

in desperation. “Oh, this is dreadful. We must 
call a doctor.” 

“What are you making all this fuss about, 
child?” said Mrs. Rawlinson irritably. “Good 
gracious, do you think me insane? 1 have been 
talking to Mr. Robinson all this evening, and I 
believe I went to sleep for a few minutes. Of 
course I did, and when I woke up you were 
sitting beside me. Isn’t that true?” she asked, 
turning to Richard. 

“Quite true,” he replied. “You went to sleep, 
and Miss Deverest was sitting beside you when 
you waked.” 

Miss Deverest rose with a pale face. “I don’t 
like this at all,” she said to Richard. “I have 
never seen anything of this kind before, and it 
seems to me very dangerous. This is hypno- 
tism, I suppose?” 

“Yes, this is hypnotism.” 

“ I don’t like it at all,” she repeated. “ Blanche, 
I don’t think you should put yourself in the 
power of any one. I am sure it is dangerous. 
Why, you don’t even know what you have been 
doing. It is dreadful.” 

Mrs. Rawlinson flushed with annoyance, but 
before she could speak Richard broke in: 


8o 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“You are really exciting yourself without 
cause, Miss Deverest. It is only because you 
have not seen a somnambulist before that this 
strikes you as something uncanny. I assure 
you that Mrs. Rawlinson remembers perfectly 
all that has happened. She is merely uncon- 
scious of the remembrance.” 

“I do not understand you.” 

“Naturally you don’t, but you will in a little 
while. Do you remember going upstairs, Mrs. 
Rawlinson ?” 

“Certainly not,” she replied. 

“Well, if you will go to sleep again,” 
said Richard, “you will remember everything 
that took place. Just try an experiment with 
yourself. Close your eyes and say to yourself, 
‘I am going to sleep for two minutes, and when 
I wake I shall remember all that happened 
during my first sleep this evening.’ Will you 
try this?” 

“Yes,” she said. “Rachel, don’t look at me 
like that, or I can’t do it.” 

“Don’t try, Blanche.” 

“Yes, I will. Don’t be so silly. I mean to 
find out for myself what happened. Now I am 
going to sleep. Don’t speak to me.” 


SOMNAMBULISM 


8l 


She closed her eyes, and lay back in her 
chair, while Miss Deverest turned her back upon 
Richard, and watched her friend intently. In 
about thirty seconds the subject made a curious 
sound, half a sigh, half an ejaculation, and her 
lips curved into a smile. 

“She is asleep,” said Richard in a whisper. 

“She is not,” said Miss Deverest. 

“Be quiet,” he commanded. 

Miss Deverest said no more, but her back was 
suggestive of displeasure. 

“But you must,” said the sleeper, in a calm 
tone of authority. “Come. 1 have been sent to 
bring you,” and she laughed softly, and re- 
lapsed into silence. 

Miss Deverest, watching her friend, breathed 
quickly, but said no more. At the end of two 
minutes the subject woke laughing. “I have 
recovered it all,” she said. “I met you on the 
stairs, Rachel, and you thought I was ill. You 
wanted me to go back with you to your room, 
I remember it all perfectly.” 

“You will make a very good somnambulist,” 
said Richard, “with a little practice. There 
is nothing to be afraid of, Miss Deverest.” 

“I am not afraid,” replied that young lady 


82 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


curtly, “but I don’t understand it. Why should 
she forget and then remember?” 

“Because she was willing to forget in the first 
place. When she was asleep, she agreed to 
forget. Her subjective mind agreed to this pro- 
posal. Her subjective mind has control of her 
objective or waking mind. Consequently, her 
waking mind did not recall certain incidents 
which her subjective mind commanded it to for- 
get. It is very simple. Such complete results 
are rare, however. Many subjects agree to for- 
get certain suggestions that have been given 
them, but on returning to consciousness they 
recall with some effort, or with the assistance of 
some friend who was present, all that has taken 
place. In Mrs. Rawlinson’s case auto-sugges- 
tion is not active, either during hypnosis or 

when she is awake, and this is a very important 
point. 

“Therefore, because Mrs. Rawlinson’s auto- 
suggestion is not as powerful as her faith, 
any suggestions given her will have a de- 
cided effect, both during hypnosis and after. 
See to what this leads us. If two people were 
hypnotized, both victims of the morphine habit, 
let us say, and if the sarne suggestion was 


SOMNAMBULISM 


83 


given to each that all desire for the drug 
would be instantly removed, the suggestion 
would have power, not in proportion to the depth 
of the hypnosis induced in each case, but in 
proportion to the objective development in the 
nature of the individual. So that while the 
suggestion would be so burnt into the soul of the 
one that he would never again feel the longing 
for the drug, the other on waking would be so 
distrustful or combative that the impression pro- 
duced upon him would be ephemeral, and its 
force would evaporate in less than a day. In 
the one the faith, or the subjective development, 
is good; in the other, auto-suggestion is very 
active, and objective reason averts the force of 
the suggestion given during hypnosis. Both 
may be equally anxious to be rid of the habit; 
both may be easily hypnotized ; but the one man 
is cured by faith in the operator, or in the sug- 
gestion of the operator, while the other simply 
cannot help disbelieving — or thinks he cannot 
be cured by this means. And this is why some 
suggestions act for weeks and months, while 
the same suggestion given to a man of different 
temperament makes little, if any, impression. 
Active auto-suggestion, if antagonistic or skep- 


84 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


tical, wrecks the force of the influence, and 
throws it off.” 

‘‘So that your hypnotic power can only be 
exercised — forgive me, Blanche — upon those 
who are naturally credulous.^” said Miss Dever- 
est with fine scorn, turning to Richard. 

“You are quite mistaken,” said he. “You 
judge before you have heard half the case. 
Hypnotism is equally effective in a person of 
strong will. How would you define strong 
will?” 

“A resoluteness which cannot be swayed or 
turned aside.” 

“Quite so, but before that resoluteness can be 
achieved, there must be present in the individual 
the power of strong belief. He must be a man of 
great subjective development, or he could not 
have a firm opinion at all. Strong will is onl}^ 
a firm belief in oneself, and weak will is only a 
paralysis of belief in one’s own power. You judge 
such men by their actions. Let us take the case 
of a public speaker who is temporarily unpopu- 
lar. He goes unflinchingly upon his way, 
merely because he believes either in his own 
power or in the power of one greater than he. 
The result is the same in both cases. He may 


SOMNAMBULISM 


8s 


be a politician advocating a villainous doctrine; 
or he may be a dignitary of the church seeking 
to purify his city of municipal corruption ; or he 
may be an artisan living a simple life of un- 
noticed self-sacrifice. It doesn’t matter in the 
least whom you selecbfor an example, the mo- 
tive principle must rest upon belief, which is 
faith, and which is also conviction. You can 
reach that state of belief through the reason, the 
intellect; you can produce faith in a man, I sa}^, 
through his reasoning powers. Is he, therefore, 
to be pointed at as credulous? You make cre- 
dulity a term of reproach, whereas it is natural 
to all men. Bless my life, we are all credulous. 
If we were not, progress would be impossible. 
A book is a suggestion. If I adopted your line 
of argument I should not believe that a book 
could even be written, unless I had written 
one myself. I should not believe that it could 
be printed unless I took one in my hand and 
examined it. But to go back to hypnotism, a 
strong-willed man overtaxes his brain, we will 
say, and breaks down. He is unable to sleep, 
and a state of nervous prostration comes upon 
him. Suppose such a man were brought to me 
to be hypnotized, I should in the first stages of 


86 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


his treatment build up again his faith in himself. 
Hypnotic suggestion would be to him a mental 
stimulant, a tonic for the soul. A little rest 
for the body, a little quiet for the mind, freedom 
from worry, all of which he could quite well, 
if he only knew it, prescribe and carry out for 
himself, and the man is himself again. He 
does not know that he can assist himself, and 
so he comes to me or to a doctor. He leans 
upon us for a time, till his self-confidence is re- 
stored.” 

’“You do not make it very clear that he is a 
strong-willed man in the first place,” said Miss 
Deverest. 

“Well, let us take such a man for a subject,” 
continued Richard, “and let us suppose that he 
is suffering from a not very acute toothache. If 
I told such a man when he was wide awake that 
he had no pain in his tooth, he would think I 
was mad. But if he consents to be hypnotized 
to have that pain removed, he will have no diffi- 
culty in sleeping to begin with, because he uses 
his will-power to control his mind and centers 
his ideas upon sleep. So then he goes to sleep, 
and when he is comfortably ofif, I call upon his 
reason to support my suggestions. I tell him 


SOMNAMBULISM 


87 


that he has in himself the power to deaden sen- 
sation in any part of his bodj^ ; that his will 
directs his brain, and his brain obeys, and that 
pain is merely an expression of sensation which 
in turn is under the control of the brain. So 
that he has but to command pain to cease, and 
it will assuredly do so, not only if the pain 
be imaginary, but if it be, as in his case, due to 
a diseased condition of a tooth. I tell him that 
he can subdue his auto-suggestion of pain, and 
that when he wakes his pain will be gone. If he 
shakes his head it is conclusive that his auto- 
suggestion is at work, and I have to explain still 
further that if he doubts, the effect cannot possi- 
bly follow. When he understands the force of 
my suggestions, and accepts them without 
question, he is told to awake free from pain, 
and he invariably does so. Here again it is his 
faith that has made him ‘whole.’” 

“But supposing the pain returns?” 

“ He can remove it by making himself passive, 
inducing a condition of tranquility of mind, 
which is auto-hypnosis, and repeating to himself 
with conviction or even with quiet determination 
the formula that he feels no pain, that he can 
control the sensations of his body, and that the 


88 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


pain has disappeared. The explanation is that 
by this mere repetition of words uttered with 
some faith (absolute faith is not possible at first) 
that they will produce the effect, he arouses that 
faith in his subjective mind, and this in turn 
asserts its power over his objective consciousness. 
So that you have the. curious spectacle of a man 
uttering something as a fact which his objective 
mind does not believe in. He says he feels no 
pain, yet he is conscious that the pain is there. 
Let him persevere for a little, and he will find 
that the faith in his subjective mind dominates 
the objection of his waking consciousness and 
absorbs it, and the pain departs.” 

“This is very wonderful if it is true,” said 
Miss Deverest. 

“You can prove it for yourself,” said Rich- 
ard, “if you have a little patience.” 

“Do you think you could cure this buzzing 
in my ears by hypnotic suggesbon, Mr. Rob- 
inson ?” 

“I am quite sure 1 could. Do you believe 
that I can ?” 

“No,. I don’t,” said Miss Deverest positively. 

“Then you’d better read up your subject be- 
fore I begin,” said Richard. “I am not going 


SOMNAMBULISM 


89 


to waste my time and yours unless you "have at 
least some confidence in the treatment. Good 
evening.” 

“Well, isn’t he a bear ?” remarked Miss Dev- 
erest, sotto voce to her friend. 


INTERLOGUE. 


“I DID think you were rather bearish,” she 
said, when she had finished reading the last 
line. ‘‘You seemed to think that we should 
bow down and worship on the instant.” 

“If I ever thought so I am still of that opin- 
ion.” 

“Words mean so little to one, and so much 
to another. You cannot make a person believe 
a thing by telling him to believe it.” 

“Nor by proving it — to a woman,” I added. 
I was not in a good temper. It was raining, 
and the wind beat the drops dismally against 
the pane. A beastly day. 

“Women and men stand pretty much on the 
same level in that respect,” she said. “Very 
few of us are open to conviction, whatever we 
may say to the contrary. We are conservatives, 
all of us, at heart, and grumble at innovations 
even when they minister to our comfort. A 
new line of thought is a trouble unspeakable.” 

“You prefer error to truth, perhaps.” 

90 


INTERLOGUE 


91 


^‘DC'n’t drag me into this, please. I am speak- 
ing for my sex now, and I know them better 
than you do. You cannot force us to adopt a 
thing because you tell us it is right. We are 
creatures of habit, and so are all human beings, 
men, women and children. We hate being 
driven.” 

“Sheep we are,” said I, “yet a good collie 
can turn a thousand sheep.” 

“And when the collie is whistled away, will 
the flock care for itself?” she inquired. 

“Fairly answered, princess; but there are 
other dogs to take his place.” 

“To bark and snap at our heels, yes.” 

“I cannot help thinking,” I said, “that the 
sheep-dog must be unpopular with the sheep. Did 
you ever regard that valuable animal from the 
sheep’s point of view?” 

“Never,” she replied, yawning. “Wh^t a 
worry existence is!” 

“Ah, you feel the influence of the weather,” 
I rejoined, complacently. 

“I am suffering from an attempt at concentra- 
tion of thought,” she replied. “Why do you 
try to make people think? Don’t you know 
that they always rebel.^ We will laugh with you, 


92 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


cry with you, and work with you, but we ask 
you to excuse us from thinking except on old 
and well-established lines.” 

“Trifles,” I said, “trifles and foolish things.” 

“You get very cross if you are kept w'aiting 
for your dinner.” 

“It is an expression of regret with me that 
others should be unpunctual.” 

“You get out of temper,” she declared. 

“I like to present myself to you in all shades 
of character,” I answered. 

“You become quite rude and disagreeable.” 

“A bear, in fact?” 

“Yes, a bear. Churlish and cantankerous. 
You say unpleasant things to me. 

“It is that I may hear your answer.” 

“You will be a horrible old man. You will 
grumble fearfully always. And if you ever 
marry — ” 

“Which I have long ceased to hope for,” I 
interrupted. 

“-—You will beat your wife. You are turn- 
ing into a schoolmaster now. Schoolmasters 
always are tyrants.” 

“I shall not beat my wife,” I said; “I shall 
lock her up in her room. I have thought it all 
out.” 


INTERLOGUE 93 

“A coward’s action,” she cried. “Come 
here.” I obeyed meekh^ and she ran her fingers 
through my hair. “It is very thick,” she said, 
“but when you are old you will be bald. I can- 
not bear a bald head.” 

“I rather like to see it myself,” L said, “es- 
pecially if it shines.” 

“Why don’t you get angr}^ sometimes?” she 
asked. “I should love to see you fly into a 
rage and break things.” 

“Don’t tempt me. I cannot afford luxuries.” 

“But why don’t you? I should respect you 
more if you were passionate. You ought to 
frighten me sometimes.” 

“I don’t mind trying,” I said, “but there 
are alway two sides to a question, and it is just 
possible that you might not be frightened. Then 
again, if I broke the furniture I should have to 
pay for it.” 

“Oh, you can always argue,” she exclaimed 
petulantly, tapping her foot— a favorite habit of 
hers, by the way. “I wish you would do some- 
thing courageous, so that I could admire your 
bravery. I wonder if you are brave.” 

“I have often wondered myself,” I said. 
“Frankly, I don’t think I am.” 


94 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“I should despise you if you were a coward.’’ 

“No, you would love me for my weakness. 
You are rather plucky yourself, and the contrast 
between us would refresh you. We should be 
positive and negative.” 

“But you are positive always.” 

“On paper, yes,” I admitted, “but any one 
can fight with a pen.” 

“If a man insulted me,” she asked, “would 
you kill him ?” 

“I think not. I should not like to go so far 
as that. No. If you were looking on I should 
probably hit him on the nose, and I expect my 
blood would boil. It has never boiled yet, but 
in the case you mention it would probably do 
so. But if you were not looking on, and I had 
him all to myself, I don’t know, I’m sure. Pos- 
sibly my self-love would so work on my imagi- 
nation that I should be afraid to let him off. 
Yes, I expect I should hit him gently, a sort of 
compromise, you know, and he would knock 
me down. Think of the injustice of the situa- 
tion.” 

“And what would happen then?” she asked. 

“If you were within hail you would rescue 
me. You carry an umbrella. You would after- 


INTERLOGUE 95 

wards lodge a complaint against him, I hope, 
and I should be called as a witness.” 

“Oh, base!” she cried. “And this is my 
knight!” 

“Well, well,” I said. “Physical courage is 
a poor thing. We share it in common with all 
brutes.” 

“ I am glad I am flesh and blood, at all events,” 
she said. “I can hate and I can love.” 

“Why, so can I, but love and hunger are both 
appetites, and a meal is as satisfying sometimes 
as a beautiful woman.” 

“And one appetite is human, but the other 
is divine,” she amended. 

“You would make a charming schoolmistress 
yourself,” I said. 

“I! Oh no, my pupils would not think so.” 

“You have one devoted pupil, who is learn- 
ing diligently.” 

“A selbsh pupil — you mean yourself?” 

“Yea, O queen. None other.” 

“When will my pupil go to college?” 

“Not while my teacher liveth.” 

“Oh!” 

“What do you think about all day?” I asked. 
“You never do anything.” 


96 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“I am always busy,” she replied, earnestly. 
“I have to water my flowers, and — ” she paused 

“Well?” 

“Oh, heaps of things. I am never idle. I 
dust the china sometimes.” 

“You mean you prepare yourself to dust the 
china. I have seen you with a curious flat cap on 
your head — really, it’s rather becoming. Span- 
ish effect, you know — and an apron tied round 
your neck; why do you wear it so? and your 
soft arms are bared to the elbows; that is your 
working costume, with an old dress thrown in, 
of course, but you are always sitting in a chair 
and swinging your foot, you are never dusting 
anything. Are you planning something diabol- 
ical?” 

“Some ornamental usefulness in embroidery, 
probably,” she replied, “or I may be passing in 
review the last chapter of your book — who 
knows?” 

“Ah, the book I You have not lost interest in 
it yet?” 

“Oh no, It is just beginning to excite my at- 
tention. You had better give up theorizing now 
and content yourself with experiments.” 

“I think so tool” 


CHAPTER IV. 

A skeptic’s view. 

Richard sent over three or four books on the 
subject of hypnotism to Mrs. Rawlinson’s on the 
morrow, and allowed the best part of a week to 
elapse before he again presented himself at her 
house. He was not the only visitor on this oc- 
casion ; a Mr. Brown, of Philadelphia, was 
making himself very agreeable to Miss Dever- 
est, and seemed to be speaking with much e7n- 
'pressenient in an undertone to that young lady, 
who listened with an eager attention that was 
unnecessarily polite, Richard thought. He 
'watched her out of the corner of his eye while 
he chatted with his hostess, and when he moved 
forward to greet her, he was pleasantly con- 
scious of the fact that Mr, Brown eyed him with 
disfavor. 

“Mr. Brown is an old friend of ours,” said 
Mrs. Rawlinson ; “let me introduce you. He 
holds very strong opinions upon the dangers 
of hypnotic influence, Mr. Robinson, so you 


98 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


may perhaps be able to make a convert of him. 
I have been trying to make him see the matter 
from our standpoint, but with very little suc- 
cess.” 

“Possibly Mr. Brown is unwilling to be con- 
vinced,” said Richard. “What is j^our attitude 
now. Miss Deverest?” 

“That of an interested spectator.” 

“Have you read the books I sent you?” 

“Parts of them only. But they tell me very 
little. I want to taste and touch. It is no use 
explaining to me that certain things will happen 
if certain other things are done. I want to see 
them myself.” 

“Naturally.” 

“And Mr. Brown is just as anxious as I am,” 
she added, with a mischievous glance at that 
gentleman, who frowned without replying. 

Mrs. Rawlinson came to his rescue. “It 
would be unfair to think that Mr. Brown’s preju- 
dice is without foundation,” she said. “It would 
be odd if he thought well of hypnotism after his 
experience of its effects.” 

“I am all in the dark,” said Richard. “Won’t 
you enlighten me as to this experience?” 

“It is a thing I very seldom speak about,” 


A skeptic’s view 


99 


replied Mr. Brown, stiffly, -‘but I thought it my 
duty to warn these ladies that they were wrong 
to submit themselves to be made the subjects of 
experiments. My own experience of hypnotism 
has been very slight, but I have noted its effects 
upon a friend of mine, and they do not warrant 
me in regarding it favorably. In fact, I go so 
far as to say that it should never be practiced ex- 
cept by a competent medical man.” 

‘‘You have a perfect right to your opinion,” 
said Richard, “and it is shared by the majority 
of the public, and by the medical profession in 
toto. But the latter rather act the part of the 
dog in the manger ; they will not practice it them- 
selves, and are unwilling that any one else should 
be allowed to do so.” 

“Then it is very good evidence,” said Mr. 
Brown, “if the profession disapproves of the 
practice, that it had better be let alone.” 

“I don’t agree with you. Doctors are con- 
servative to a degree. As their fathers taught 
them they believe. Their watchword is drugs, 
drugs. They have material remedies at hand to 
meet everj^ symptom of disease in the human 
body, and if these remedies fail they are non- 
plussed. They are only beginning to realize 


lOO 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


that mind is the potent factor in regulating the 
health of the body. I grant you that hypnotism 
is chiefly of service in nervous diseases, but 
even if its effects are limited to that class alone, 
what a vast field lies before it I And I am not pre- 
pared to admit that hypnotism is not of the great- 
est value in organic disease, either when used 
separately, or in conjunction with material rem- 
edies. Remember that the science is only in 
its infancy.” 

“Science I” said Mr, Brown. 

“Yes, sir, science! Hypnotism is as much 
a science as geology, and it is perhaps fortu- 
nate for the doctors that their foremost men are 
willing to acknowledge this, and to investigate 
the phenomena. It is a blow to the prestige of 
the medical facult}^ that they have heretofore 
left this investigation in the hands of incompe- 
tent persons.” 

“Are you willing to admit that they are in- 
competent?” asked Mr. Brown. “I hardly ex- 
pected as much.” 

“I am an enthusiast, if you like,” said Rich- 
ard, recovering his temper, “and it galls me to 
see hypnotism, which should be a part of ever37 
medical student’s training, left to the charlatan 


A skeptic’s view 


lOI 


and the ignorant quack. A professor of h3q:)no- 
tism is a man who is on a par socially with for- 
tune tellers and patent medicine vendors. He 
is not a respectable individual. There are other 
investigators, whose numbers do not run far into 
the thousands, who bring with them to their la- 
bors an honest desire to look into the science 
for its own sake; and there are still others who 
are actuated solely by their belief , in its thera- 
peutic possibilities. But the competent investi- 
gator, as opposed to the incompetent, is the 
man who has acquired in the laboratory and the 
hospital a familiarity with the physical structure 
of the body, and the forms of disease, which is 
withheld from the average student. I refer, of 
course, to the qualified doctor. Such a man, if 
he had also a knowledge of hypnotism at his 
disposal, could successfully discriminate between 
imaginary and organic disorders.” 

“A doctor can do that at any time,” said Mr. 
Brown. 

“He cannot, unfortunately for his patient,” 
said Richard. “Plere’s a case in point which 
fell w'ithin my own range of observation, a not 
very extended one, I assure you. A lady who 
had suffered for more than a year with neural- 


102 


A S TUDY IN IIYriNOTISM 


gia in one side of her face, and had consulted 
two dentists and a doctor, and tried various 
remedies, was advised to go to a specialist. She 
went, and he counseled an operation under chlo- 
roform. She was very unwilling to submit to 
this, and came to me to see if hypnotism would 
take the place of the drug, and make her insen- 
sible to pain during the operation. She was hyp- 
notized very easily, and I gave her the sugges- 
tion that she would not feel a return of the- 
neuralgic pains that day. She came again on 
the day following, and when she was sound 
asleep I told her decidedly that she was cured; 
that the pain would never return. This happened 
four weeks ago, and she has not been hypno- 
tized since, nor has she had any further attacks 
of neuralgia.'’ 

“Is the lady livinghere?” asked Mr. Brown, 
incredulously. 

“I can give you her address,” said Richard, 
writing it on a card and handing it to him, 
“and you can satisfy yourself, if you care to do 
so, that what I have said is the simple truth. 
Your incredulity may be quite natural, perhaps 
all this sounds like a fairy tale to you — but you 
must forgive me if I point out that it is only be- 


A skeptic’s viEW 


103 


cause you are yourself totally ignorant of a 
science upon which you presume to sit in judg- 
ment.” 

“I do not see,” said Mr. Brown, emphatic- 
ally, “how this lad}^ you speak of could imagine 
that she was sufTeriiig pain, when there was 
nothing the matter with her.” 

“The pain was not imaginary,” said Richard, 
“it was real enough, but the disease which had 
originated the pain did not exist. She might 
have caught a cold at one time, and the nerves 
had become affected. They still remained in 
a deranged condition long after the cold itself 
had departed. Her brain believed in the exist- 
ence of the pain, confidently expected it to 
appear, in short, and it did appear. But the 
point of the story is that on the authority of a 
specialist she was suffering from an organic dis- 
ease, and was about to undergo an operation for 
its cure.” 

“But according to your theory,” said Mrs. 
Rawlinson, “she may be yet suffering from a 
disease, and is only unconscious of pain be- 
cause your suggestion removed it.” 

“Suppose that she were,” said Richard, 
“which, however, I do not think likely, or it 


104 ^ STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 

would assuredly have manifested itself before 
this; but supposing at the time she was hypno- 
tized that some structural disease of tissue was 
present. Don’t you see that by removing pain, 
the expression of disease, hypnotism directed 
her thoughts into other channels, and her own 
system threw off the disorder itself. She cured 
herself unconsciously. I do not think there is a 
disease known to man which could not be. 
remedied if the mind of the patient were pre- 
vented from retarding his rocovery to health. 
‘Human skill avails nothing here,’ sa3^s the 
doctor in diagnosing a hopeless case, ‘it all rests 
with the man himself. His constitution may 
pull him through.’ Good Heavens! His con- 
stitution, plus his imagination or his soul’s power, 
will pull him through if he is properly encour- 
aged, stimulated, awakened to the necessity for 
living. How many physicians try the power of 
continued suggestion upon a patient during the 
ravings of fever? Not one in ten thousand. 
How many try the effect of positive assertion 
upon a patient who is supposed to be unconscious, 
but whose subjective mind never sleeps? Not 
one in ten thousand. They would think it mad- 
ness to tell a dying man who was too weak to 


A skeptic’s view 


105 

lift his hand, and on whom the shadows of death 
were gathering, that he would feel a desire to 
eat come upon him in half an hour. Tears and 
sorrowful faces by the bedside, are too strong 
counter suggestions for the enfeebled resistance 
of the wasted frame, and sympathetic relatives 
have killed more people than the world will ever 
wot of.” 

“I have seen some people die fighting hard 
for life,” said Mr. Brown. 

“You never saw one die, I venture to assert,” 
said Richard, “who believed that he would live. 
Once rouse in a man’s mind the conviction that 
death has no hold upon him, and he will get 
better. You know that in nine cases out of ten 
there is nothing painful to the departing one in 
his approaching dissolution. His state is de- 
scribed generally as a great peace of mind; it is 
a tranquillity of soul that possesses him, and he 
looks forward with resignation, even with long- 
ing, to the freeing of the spirit. In other words, 
he has given up the fight, and is drifting pas- 
sively away. It would not be an easy matter 
to recall such a one to a desire for life, but it 
could be done in many cases. Drowning has 
been described by those who approached death 


io6 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


in this manner, as a heavenly feeling; it is the 
restoration to life that is painful. Doctor Liv- 
ingstone was seized by a lion once when hunt- 
ing in Africa, and he asserts that when death 
seemed imminent, all fear and pain left him, 
and he experienced only a delicious languor of 
the senses. There is this much of an analogy 
between these cases and that of the dying man, 
that it is only when the struggle for life ceases, 
when the reasoning powers are paralyzed, that 
the subjective mind assumes control of the be- 
ing, and a passive enjoyment of circumstances 
that might be expected to excite terror results. 
If the man dying in his bed could be persuaded 
that his usefulness on earth was not at an end; 
that he could live, and must live for the sake of 
o'hers; but especial!}^ that he could live, if he 
desired to, the chances are that he would re- 
cover. Doctor Livingstone was rescued from 
the lion, and the animal killed by a well directed 
shot. He woke to find himself surrounded by 
his companions; why then should he die? The 
drowning man regains consciousness in the arms 
of his friends, and violent pains first arouse him 
to the knowledge that he is no longer immersed 
in deep water. The expectation of death is re- 


A SKEPTIC S VIEW 


107 


moved in his case. But the man lying in tran- 
quil enjoyment in his bed is in no danger of 
having his peace so rudely disturbed. It would 
be inhuman to utter a sound. No one thinks of 
rousing him by heroic measures which savor of 
brutality, and in the opinion of mourners would 
inevitabl}^ hasten the end. So he dies.” 

“May I suggest that you are relying upon 
theory to an extraordinary extent?” remarked 
Mr. Brown. 

“If the conclusion is logical, it doesn’t seem 
to me to matter whether it is deduced from the- 
ory or practice,” said Richard. “The result is 
just as certain in the one case as the other. I 
have seen the ravings of delirium quieted by a 
course of vigorous suggestion, and a healthy 
sleep induced; and I have seen a man who had 
been Ijn’ng in a state of unconsciousiiess for two 
days, and who had not uttered a word or 
taken notice of anj^thing that happened in his 
room, roused in the same manner to an interest 
in chicken-broth. Of course you might say 
that his period of stupor terminated of itself, 
but I think itunlikel}^ under the circumstances. 
Because he seemed incapable of motion, his 
physician believed him to be unconscious ;where- 


io8 


A studV in hypnotism 


as the man himself afterwards declared that he 
had a perfect knowledge of all that transpired 
during his illness, but did not take sufficient 
interest in anything to assert his consciousness. 
He saw himself, as it were, lying on the bed, 
and wondered idly whether the}’ would bury 
him alive, but if they had done so, he did not 
think he would have objected. He was quite 
indifferent to the lamentations of his family, al- 
though ordinarily an affectionate man, and he 
described his mental state as one of absolute 
serenity. Probably if they had not called in a 
psychologist, who knew something of the attri- 
butes of the subjective mind, the man would 
have been buried alive, or, if his family objected 
to his removal to the tomb until all hope was at 
an end, he would have died in his bed.” 

“Do you suppose many people are buried 
alive,” asked Mrs. Rawlinson, 

“I don’t know, but I daresay a good many 
are.” 

“Horrible! Fancy waking up in a coffin un- 
derground.” 

“I don’t think you need worry about it. These 
victims of ignorance would probably not suffer 
from such premature burial. If they realized 


A SKfiPTIc’S VIEW 


io9 

for a moment the horror of the situation, their 
objective consciousness would be quickly sub- 
merged in the subjective, and the subjective 
mind, -per se, does not know what it is to fear. 
Probably the trance state would immediate 1}^ 
supervene, and the man would pass peacefull}’’ 
into dust,” 

•‘I read somewhere,” said Miss Deverest, 
“that a graveyard was opened a little while ago, 
and the coffins removed, and that thirty per cent 
of the skeletons were found in unnatural posi- 
tions.” 

“That doesn’t prove that the parties who 
owned those skeletons were buried alive,” said 
Richard. “The coffins were probably air-tight, 
and the gaseous emanations from the bodies as 
they resolved into dust — ” 

“Oh, don’t!” said Mrs. Rawlinson, “ never 
mind the details. Rachel, why do you talk of 
such things?” 

“I like to know,” said Miss Deverest. “Per- 
sonally, I mean to be cremated.” 

“It is much cleaner,” said Richard. “I hope 
it will be made compulsory by state ordinance, 
by and by. It will be so when the health of the 
living is considered rationally.” 


no 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


is a cold-blooded idea,” said Mrs. Raw- 
linson, “in spite of its advantages, I should 
like to feel that green grass was growing over 
the remains of my dead friends.” 

“No objection to that,” said Richard, “you 
could bury the crematory urn in your garden, 
if you wished to. Oh, it is a wholesome, beau- 
tiful idea to me.” 

“We seem to have drifted some way from 
hypnotic experiments,” remarked Miss Dev- 
erest. “Suppose we return to Mr. Brown’s ob- 
jections.” 

“My stor}^ would prove too long, I am 
afraid,” said that gentleman. “But if it will 
have any effect 1 don’t mind condensing it. I 
had a friend once who was hypnotized at a 
public performance. He was made to perform 
al^ sorts of foolish tricks at the bidding of the 
hypnotist, and at the close of the entertainment 
he had no recollection of doing anything at all. 

I went with him the second night, and though 
he had promised me that he would not go upon 
the platform again^ he was compelled to obey 
the hypnotist when the latter beckoned to him, 
and he tore himself loose from me when I tried 
to detain him. He repeated his lamentable 


A skeptic’s view 


1 1 1 


exhibition of the evening previous, and during 
the stay of this hypnotist in the city my friend 
was upon the platform every evening. He 
was, in fact, the fool and slave of a charlatan, 
and he has seemed to me to have deteriorated 
morally since that occasion.” 

“And on these grounds, of course, you con- 
demn hypnotism,” said Richard. “I gather one 
or two things from your story. You must forgive 
me if I speak frankly in discussing this case, 
because to me it is only a matter of misconcep- 
tion on your part. You did not know your 
friend’s character previous to this hypnotic ex- 
hibition, but you have since found that he has 
deteriorated, as you put it, morally. You mean, 
I suppose, that he is not strictly honest. I could 
have told you without that admission on your 
part that he was a very impressionable man, 
easily swayed by others, and that he was not in- 
clined to be strictl}^ truthful. Active somnam- 
bulists are rare among persons frequentlj^ hyp- 
notized; they are very rare among those who 
submit to be hypnotized for the first time in 
public. That your friend should have thus dis- 
tinguished himself on the first night presupposes 
a weak character. There is no doubt in my 


1 12 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


mind, also, that the hypnotist gave him the sug- 
gestion that he should come upon the platform 
on the evening following. These professors in- 
variably do so in a low tone of voice when they 
are fortunate enough to meet with a good subject. 
It is not advisable that the audience should hear 
tliis post hypnotic suggestion, because it is ren- 
dered much more forcible in effect if there ap- 
pears to be no previous understanding between 
them. If your friend had been honest, he would 
not have promised you that he would not go 
upon the platform again. Ha would not have 
made the promise at all, because, although he 
might have no recollection at the time j^ou 
spoke to him of this post-hypnotic suggestion, 
still he would have confessed to a liking for the 
experiment, and he showed insincerity in pre- 
tending to you that he disliked it. Further, his 
resistance to your detaining hand on the second 
evening was conclusive that he objected to your 
opposition. It found no echo in his own nature, or 
he would have broken the spell himself. Even if 
a subject accepts a post-hypnotic suggestion, the 
impulse to carr}^ it out at the appointed time can 
be thrown off without effort if there is any de- 
sire on the part of the subject to do so. I do 


A skeptic’s view 


113 


not doubt that your friend was given the post- 
hypnotic suggestion every evening that he 
should attend the performances, but I also be- 
lieve that the professor might have saved him- 
self the trouble; your friend would have been 
present in any case, not because he was drawn 
thither by some extraordinary power outside of 
himself, but because he enjoyed the fun.” 

“I do not at all consider 3’our deductions con- 
clusive,” said Mr. Brown. 

“Because you are looking for evidence of 
the existence of some uncanny influence here,” 
retorted Richard. “You blame hypnotism for 
affecting your friend’s character, but I think 
you will find that the deterioration existed prior 
to the experiment, and was not a consequence 
of it.” 

“H’m!” said Mr. Brown. “I shall say good 
evening, Mrs. Rawlinson. Good evening, Miss 
Deverest; I hope sincerely you will have nothing 
to do with hpynotism,” and with a curt nod 
of his head to Richard, who returned an 
equally brief greeting, Mr. Brown took his hat 
and departed. 

“Well,” said Miss Deverest, as the door 
closed behind him, “how do you feel, Mr. 
Robinson ?” 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


I 14 

“Pretty much as usual,” he replied. “How 
do you feel? Has 37our friend prejudiced you 
against submitting yourself to experiment?” 

“Rather the reverse,” she answered. “I am 
anxious to begin.” 

“I could never prevail upon a man like that,” 
he said, “if I talked for an hour, to investigate 
for himself. His mind is made up, and he will 
see no good in the unclean thing.” 

“Do you want to hypnotize me, Mr. Robin- 
son?” asked Mrs. Rawlinson. 

“No. I should prefer to begin with Miss Dev- 
erest, if she is ready.” 

“I am all prepared,” said that lady; “do 
your worst. I fear you not.” 


CHAPTER V. 


A DIFFICULT SUBJECT. 

‘‘No one was ever yet hypnotized by fear,” 
said Richard. “A bird may be fascinated b}^ 
a cat or a snake, but the condition brought on 
is really paralysis, not hypnosis. There are a 
few, a very few hystero-epileptic people in the 
world who may be thrown into such a state by 
the flash of a light before the eyes, or the un- 
expected sound of a loud gong close to the ear; 
but the proportion of these unfortunates is only 
one in a hundred thousand. Therefore the first 
thing to be done is to remove all fear from the 
mind of the person to be hypnotized. How could 
I expect you to concentrate your mind on sleep 
if there were a tiger or wild animal loose in the 
room? Yet you would have just as much reason 
to stay awake if you were afraid of hypnotism 
or had no confidence in me. I want you to 
understand that I desire to help yon, and to 
cure you. There is not much the matter with 
115 


Il6 A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 

you. A slight nervous deafness which has 
baffled the doctors will yield readily enough to 
hypnotic treatment. Just bear in mind that it all 
rests with yourself.” 

‘‘Oh, why do you tell me that?” exclaimed 
Miss Deverest. “I can’t help m3^self. I want 
to feel that it does not depend on me at all. I 
should have so much more confidence if I 
thought that you could put me to sleep whether 
I wanted to or not. I am sure you are wrong in 
explaining your theory of hypnotism at all. 
Why didn’t 3mu let me believe in your mysteri- 
ous power?” 

“You can believe in it still.” 

“Oh no, I can’t. I am not impressed at all. 
You have spoiled all the magic. When I first 
saw Blanche under the influence I felt the most 
delicious creepy sensation all over me. I in- 
vested you at once with diabolic powers, and 
every time I looked at you and caught 3mur 03^0 
It seemed to me that you were throwing your 
will upon me, and reading my very soul. Now 
all that has passed, and you are just an ordinar3^ 
man. Wh3’, I believe I could hypnotize you.” 

“I’ll let you try some other time,” replied 
Richard, smiling. 


A DIFFICULT SUBJECT 


II7 

‘‘Don’t you believe in animal magnetism?” 
she continued. “Just say you do, to please me.” 

“Of what use would that admission be?” 

“Why, don’t you see, you might really have 
that power yourself without knowing it. Then 
I could account to myself for your theories on 
the ground that you did not know 3’ourself thor- 
oughly. Only let me believe in some power out- 
side of myself.” 

“You’d better accept the fact at once that I 
am only directing the influence, not producing 
it. It is rather unflattering, of course, to berated 
as an ordinary man, but honesty brings its own 
rewards. I shall try to live down your poor 
opinion of me. Now suppose 3^00 try to sleep.” 

“Impossible! I could not.” 

“You can go to sleep, I presume, when you 
go to bed at night.” 

“Of course, but that is different. No one is 
watching me.” 

“I won’t watch you now, ’’said Richard, turn- 
ing away and going over to Mrs. Rawlinson. 

“There is nothing difficult in it, Rachel,” said 
that lady; “you have only to make your mind 
a blank.” 

“Make it a blank!” echoed Miss Deverest, 


ii8 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


much exasperated “When was my mind ever 
a blank? I can’t sleep now, I know 1 can’t, 
and just because you expect me to. It’s too 
provoking.” 

“You’re talking nonsense,” said Richard; 
“You can sleep just as well here as in your 
own room. If you have not done so before, you 
can begin now, and get used to it. Bless my 
life, one would think you had been asked to do 
something difficult. Just be quiet, and don’t, 
argue, and don’t talk, but go to sleep. Look at 
the end of one of your fingers, and keep quiet. 
We shall not talk, so you won’t be disturbed. 

I am not watching you. I’m going to read the 
paper.” 

Miss Deverest sighed pathetically and settled 
herself more comfortably in her chair. 

“Well, I will try,” she said. 

“You might as well be comfortable,” said 
Richard; “have this cushion at the back of your 
head.” 

He arranged the cushion for her, and resum- 
ing his seat, diligently perused the evening 
paper. When he looked up again he found that 
Miss Deverest was regarding him fixedly. 

“I told you to look at your finger,” he said, 
reprovingly. 


A DIFFICULT SUBJECT II9 

She made a delightful little moue^ and raised 
her eyebrows imploringly. 

“I don’t feel sleepy,” she said. 

“You will in a little while. There’s plenty of 
time.” 

“But I’m getting more wakeful every minute.” 

“Oh, this is absurd,” said Richard, throwing 
his paper aside. “You’re not trying.” 

“I don’t know how to trj^,” she said. “Of 
course it’s absurd. It’s the most ridiculous thing 
I ever heard of. How can I sleep when 3^00 
two sit there and watch me?” 

“But we are not watching you.” 

“Worse still, you are pretending not to, but 
I know you are. I looked up just now and 
caught your eye. It is not honest of you to 
pretend you are not observing me narrowly. 
I think you are keeping me awake between 
you.” 

“Do be quiet, Rachel,” said Mrs. Rawlin- 
son. “I wonder that you can be so frivolous 
over a thing that will be of the greatest benefit 
to you.” 

“But, my dear,” protested Miss Deverest, “it 
is entirely Mr. Robinson’s fault. He should not 
have told me an3^thing about hypnotism.” 


120 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“You are quite rights” said Richard, wearily. 
“I see my mistake now.” 

“When it is too late.” 

“No, it is not too late,” he replied. “If you 
will really bring your will-power to your assist- 
ance, it is not too late. Surely it is belter to 
depend upon yourself than upon a stranger.” 

“But it is so much easier to trust in a man,” 
she said. “All women like to be lifted out of 
themselves. I am only just recovering from a 
severe shock; my faith in you has been de- 
stroyed, and you expect me to sleep! You ask 
a great deal.” 

“Give me your hand,” said Richard, getting 
up, and seating himself in front of her. “I’ll 
see if I can’t make you sleep. I want you to 
look right in my eyes. Miss Deverest. So. 
Now think of nothing at all. Sa}^ to yourself 
over and over again, ‘I am going to sleep. I 
am going to sleep.’ That’s right. Let yourself 
go now. Keep perfectly still.” 

The lady maintained an unnatural gravity for 
fully a minute; then the corners of her mouth 
twitched, and she smiled. 

“Keep perfectly still,” said Richard, with an 
immovable countenance. “You are feeling 


A DIFFICULT SUBJECT 


I2I 


quieter now. Much quieter. You are going to 
slee-ee-eep.” 

“I never stared at any one so in my life,” she 
said. “I think it’s rude.” 

“ Keep perfectly still, ’’said the heroic Richard. 
“Your eyes are getting heavy. They are getting 
very heavy. Heavier and heavier. They are 
closing now. Let them close. They are clos- 
ing.” 

“Do you want me to shut my eyes?” she 
asked. 

“Yes. Close them, and don’t speak.” 

“I wish 3^ou wouldn’t frown so,” she said, “it 
makes me think when I ought to be quite pas- 
sive.” 

“You are doing very well,” continued Rich- 
ard soothingly. “Your eyes are fast shut. Shut 
them tighter. They are very heavy, and you can 
not open them. Shut tight and you can’t open 
them.” 

“Do you want me to open them?” she asked. 

“They are shut tight, and you cannot open 
them,” he repeated fiercely. “Try them. You 
cannot open them.” 

Her eyes opened at once, and she smiled upon 
him. 


122 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISxM 


That’s ver}^ good,” said Richard. “Close 
them now. Close them tight,” and Impressed 
his fingers upon the lids. “Your eyes are fast 
shut. The lids are stuck together.” 

“You are hurting my eyes,” she cried. 
“Don’t press so hard.” 

“They are closed tight,” he continued, re- 
moving his hand. “ Shut fast, and the lids are 
stuck together. You cannot open them.” 

“ Mr Robinson,” she said, with emphasis, “ do 
you mean me to open my e3ms or not?” 

“You are to believe that you cannot,” he 
said. “Believe that they are fastened tight.” 

“But that is absurd,” she said. “See now,” 
and she opened them at once. 

“Very good,” said Richard. “Now look at 
me. You said just now that it was absurd for 
3mu to believe that your eyes were shut. In 
effect, you were using your reasoning powers, 
or you could not have thought an3rthing of the 
kind. You were not passive. You will not’go 
to sleep until you have acquired the power to 
make yourself passive. With 3mu it must be a 
matter of education. It ma3^ take a little time, 
but you can do it. Everybody can if they so 
determine. Your friend Mrs. Rawlinson need- 


A DIFFICULT SUBJECT 


123 


ed no such training. The power was hers from 
the first.” 

“Did she know anything about hypnotism 
when she first went under the influence?” 

“No, I did not tell her much about it until 
afterwards.” 

“Very well, then,” retorted Miss Deverest, 
triumphantly. “She went to sleep because she 
thought you compelled her to sleep, and that re- 
sistance would be useless. She believed that you 
were full of animal magnetism, or something 
of that sort.” 

Richard looked doubtfully at Mrs. Rawlin- 
son, who replied with an apologetic glance, 

“I am afraid that had a great deal to do with 
it, Mr. Robinson. I am very glad you didn’t 
leave everything tome.” 

“Just what I said,” remarked her friend. 
“You are doing a very unwise thing, Mr. Rob- 
inson ; 3^ou should keep up the mystery, or you 
won’t get the effect in nine cases out of ten.” 

“But, hang it all,” he cried, “there isn’t an}^ 
mystery !” 

“Then make one,” said Miss Deverest, “or 
better still, say nothing at all, and j^our patients 
w’ill create the mystery themselves. Then 3^011 


124 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


can' tell them all about hypnotism afterwards, 
you know. It won’t do any harm then, but first 
impressions are everything.” 

“There is lots o£ good sense in what you say,” 
said Richard, “but I believe my way will prove 
the best in the long run. As soon as people un’ 
derstand hypnotism, or its first principles at any 
rate, they can help themselves. It won’t be 
necessary for them to go to a hypnotist for treat- 
ment.” 

“That day is far off yet, I should judge,” 
said Miss Deverest. “How is it, Blanche, that 
you can sleep now, even when you know that 
you do it yourself ?” 

“I suppose because I know that I can. I 
never doubt at all.” 

“Blessed state of mind!” said Miss Deverest. 
“When shall I attain it?” 

“Just whenever you arrive at a belief in your 
own power,” said Richard. 

“Oh, words— words I” she exclaimed. “They 
seem to mean so little to me. I suppose, Mr. 
Robinson, you have been hypnotized yourself 
very often?” 

“Why, no,” he replied. “If I must confess it, 
I am not a good subject.” 


A DIFFICULT SUBJECT 


125 


She clapped her hands. “Oh, it is very 
good to hear you say so. I forgive you for the 
harm you have done my faith. Why are you 
not a good subject?” 

“I have not been able to concentrate my mind 
sufficiently upon the one thing.” 

“Splendid. You are deficient in will-power, 
are you not?” 

“It would seem so. I may as well make a 
clean breast of it. When I first went to a pro- 
fessor of hypnotism I was full of blind faith in 
his compelling power. But this professor was 
a very ignorant man, and he failed to impress 
me. Then I went to my friend Doctor Parkyn, 
and he explained to me the simple steps in the 
production of hypnotic phenomena. I was so 
interested in all he told me, that I was too care- 
ful in analyzing my own sensations, and I never 
succeeded in getting further than the drowsy 
stage. It was a great disappointment, but I 
turned the experience to account by writing a 
book on the subject. It is of some use to begin- 
ners — a sort of A B C of Hpynotism.” 

“Really? I have never seen the book,” said 
Miss Deverest. 

“Nor I,” said Mrs. Rawlinson. “What is it 
called ?” 


126 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“ Hypnotism Up to Date,’’ answered Richard. 
“Don’t spare my feelings. I will get you a 
copy. I believe there is one in the city.” 

“Your sarcasm is too fine for us,” said Miss 
Deverest, laughing. “We miss the point, but 
I should like to read your book. Blanche, aren’t 
you going to show us something this evening? 
Sleep for the gentleman, Blanche! I wish I 
could.” 

“You will, in time,” said Richard. “So shall 
I, when I give my mind to it. I wish you would 
go to sleep, Mrs. Rawlinson ; there are one or 
two experiments I should like to try with you.” 

“Very well,” she replied. “I am going to 
sleep, Rachel, in thirty seconds. Don’t you wish 
you could?” 

“You needn’t make it any harder than it is to 
bear,” said Miss Deverest; “though I am half 
resigned now that I know Mr. Robinson is in 
the same boat.” 

“I’m sorry I told you,” said Richard. “You 
wfill have an even poorer opinion of me than be- 
fore.” 

“Hush!” she replied, warningly. “She is 
going to sleep.” 

Mrs. Rawlinson was leaning comfortably back 


A DIFFICULT SUBJECT 


127 


in her chair with her eyes closed, and while they 
regarded her, she uttered her customary sigh 
and smiled slightly. 

“You are asleep,” said Richard, “sound 
asleep. And you will sleep till I tell you to 
wake. Fast asleep, are you not?” 

“Yes. Don’t wake me.” 

“I am not going to. See, I have here a small 
bunch of violets. I brought them for you. They 
are very sweet, the earliest of the season,” and 
he put a lucifer match into her hand. “Lovel}^, 
are they not? Open your eyes and look at 
them.” 

The subject did as she was bid, and her ex- 
pression changed to one of dreamy admiration, 
as she regarded the match in her hand. 

“Oh, exquisite!” she murmured, raising it to 
her nostrils, and drawing a deep breath of en- 
joyment. 

“The perfume of the violet,” said Richard, 
“ is the most perfect, I always think, of all scents. 
And these are very fine.” 

“Thank you very much,” she said, fastening 
the match in the bosom of her dress, and patting 
it lovingly. 

“It is nothing,” said Richard. “I thought 


128 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


you would enjoy them. When you wake up,’^ 
he said, sharply, “you will remember this part 
of the experiment, and describe your sensations 
at this moment. Do you hear me?” 

“Yes.” 

“You will not forget?” 

“No.” 

“The violets are beautiful, are they not?” 

“They are very beautiful,” she replied. 

“Quite so. A singular thing is about to hap- 
pen, Mrs. Rawlinson. It will strike you as very 
curious, but you will not be alarmed. Do you 
hear me? You will not be afraid. It will only 
seem curious and odd. You know who is in 
the room with me?” 

“Yes.” 

“You can see Miss Deverest sitting beside 
me?” 

“Of course.” 

“A strange tking is going to happen. But 
remember, you will not be alarmed. Miss Dev- 
erest is going to disappear. Close your eyes 
for a moment. Miss Deverest is going to disap- 
pear for five minutes, and you are going to wake 
up and talk to me. You will not see her in the 
room when you wake, and until five minutes 


A UIFFICUT.T SUBJECT 


129 


have expired her chair will be empty to you. 
You will be wide awake, you understand, but 
her chair will be empty. Then her head will 
come into view, and for one minute you will 
only see her head. Then the rest of her body 
will be visible, and you will tell us all about it. 
Do you understand?” 

“Oh yes, I understand.” 

“I am going to wake you now. Wake up 
and talk to me. You feel quite well. Wake 
up.” 

The subject opened her eyes and looked at 
Richard. “How do you feel?” he asked. 

“I feel quite well,” she replied, closing her 
eyes again. 

“Open your eyes,” he said, “you are wide 
awake, and are going to talk to me. Miss Dev- 
erest has gone upstairs for a minute.” 

The subject nodded her head, but did not look 
towards the chair in which Miss Deverest sat. 
She seemed unwilling to keep her eyes open, 
and it was only by constant repetition of the 
command that she was not to close them that 
she was prevented frDm doing so. 

“It has been a charming day,” said Richard. 

“Yes.” 


130 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“Don’t 3^ou think so, Miss Deverest?” 

“I do indeed,” replied that young lady. 

The subject turned her head fo catch the 
sound, and seemed to be listening intently, but 
she did not look in Miss Deverest’s direction. 

“What are you listening to?” asked Richard. 

“I thought I heard Rachel’s voice,” she an- 
swered. 

“ I said that I thought it was a charming day,” 
said Miss Deverest. 

Again the subject turned her head, but not her 
eyes, towards the sound, but she did not speak. 

“I expect Miss Deverest is in the next room,”' 
said Richard. 

“No, I don’t think so,” Mrs. Rawlinson re- 
plied. 

“I will go and see,” he said, going behind 
the subject’s chair to the folding doors. “Ah, I 
thought so. Here she is, Mrs. Rawlinson. 
Come and speak to her.” 

The subject shook her head in disbelief, and 
remained seated. 

“Don’t feel inclined to move, eh? Well, 
stay where you are then. Or no,” he added, 
coming back into the room, “here’s a vacant 
chair,” touching the one in which Miss Dever- 


A DIFFICULT SUBJECT 


I3I 

est was sitting, “you will be more comfortable 
here. Take this seat.” 

The subject fastened her eyes upon Richard’s 
feet, and did not stir. 

“Take this chair,” he repeated, peremptorily. 
“Come.” 

“I would rather not move,” she said, hesitat- 
ing. 

“Take this chair, please. I order you to do 
so.” 

“This is very comfortable,” she said, closing 
her eyes. “I only want to be left alone.” 

“Stand up,” said Richard. “Come. That’s 
right. Move forward here. Now take this 
chair.” 

“Thank you, I don’t like that chair,” an- 
swered the subject with mild obstinacy. She 
was standing just in front of Miss Deverest, and 
so close to her that she could have touched her. 

“Won’t you sit down?” Richard insinuated. 

“Yes,” she said, going back to her own 
chair, and sinking into it. “I am quite tired,” 
and she closed her eyes. 

Silence reigned in the room for the space of 
a minute, and Richard forbore to disturb her any 
further. On a sudden, the subject opened her 


132 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


eyes with a start, and gazed earnestly at her 
friend. Richard pulled out his watch; the five 
minutes had just expired. 

“What’s the matter?” he asked. 

“Why, how curious!” said the subject, 
“there’s Rachel’s head!” 

The head laughed, and nodded. 

“Well, what a strange thing !” said Mrs. Raw- 
linson. 

“There is nothing strange in it,” said Rich- 
ard. “It is just a human head. You do not 
feel alarmed.” 

“No, of course not. But it’s very funny,” 
and she laughed herself. “Can it speak?” 

“Oh yes, I can speak,” said the head. “How 
do I look, Blanche?” 

“Well, isn’t that curious!” said Mrs. Raw- 
linson, half to herself. “Isn’t that a strange 
thing!” 

She relapsed into silence, and continued to 
stare intently at her friend, who smiled back at 
her. 

“How do you like those violets, Mrs. Rawlin- 
son?” Richard asked. 

“Very much,” she said, looking at the match 
for an instant, and then at her friend once more. 

“Is the perfume sweet?” he continued. 


A DIFFICULT SUBJECT 


133 


“It is beautiful. Oh!” she cried, half rising 
from her chair, while her face expressed won- 
der intensified. “You’ve come back,” and she 
resumed her seat. 

“Come back!” echoed Miss Deverest. 
“Where from ?” 

The expression of the subject’s eyes*changed, 
the concentrated look vanished, and she spoke 
in her old tone as she replied: 

“I’m sure I don’t know, Rachel. What have 
I been doing now ?” 

“Let her alone,” whispered Richard, “I want 
to watch her for a little while.” 

“What are jmu two whispering about?” the 
subject inquired. Just then a thought seemed 
to strike her, and she looked down at the match 
in her waist. “Why, whatever — ” she began, 
and then she plucked it out and threw it away. 
“ I declare, it’s too ridiculous,” she cried, and 
both her hearers laughed at her annoyance. 
“What a stupid thing to make me do! Mr. 
Robinson, I think it was very mean of you to 
give me a silly match, and tell me — ” She 
turned very red. 

“Tell you what?” 

“Oh, and I held it to my nose, and thought it 


134 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


was lovely I” she said, laughing in spite of her 
annoyance. “How stupid of me! I must have 
looked absolutely idiotic!” 

“You said the perfume was perfectly heav- 
enly,” said Richard. “Tell me, was there no 
double consciousness? Didn’t you know that 
you were mistaking a match for a bunch of 
flowers?” 

“No; the flowers were as real to me then as 
if 1 had just gathered them. Why, I remem- 
ber feeling very grateful to you for your 
thoughtfulness. ‘The first of the season,’ you 
said.” 

“Ah, this is really interesting,” said Richard. 
“You have shown us three delusions of the 
senses — sight, smell and touch. Hearing, taste 
and speech could be inhibited in your case just 
as easily. Do you remember the second experi- 
ment, when Miss Deverest faded away?” 

“No. I remember nothing of the kind.” 

“Why then,” said Richard, “you prove a 
very curious thing. I gave j^ou a post-hypnotic 
suggestion. I said, ‘You will wake up, and 
while you are awake Miss Deverest’s head only 
will be visible to you for five minutes.’ You 
seemed to wake up all right, but as a matter of 


A DIFFICU-LT SUBJECT 


135 


fact, you were still asleep, throughout this ex- 
periment, Your eyes showed it, for one thing; 
and for another,you still believed that the match 
in your v^aist was a bunch of violets. It was not 
really a post-hypnotic suggestion at all, but a 
continuation of the hypnotic state. From ‘the 
time you first said you were awake, your atten- 
tion was concentrated upon the carrying out of 
the suggestion I had given you with regard to 
your friend, and you were not dehypnotized 
until you asked what you had been doing. Do 
you remember waking up?” 

•‘Of course I remember seeing that stupid 
match. I don’t remember anything before that.” 

“All right,” said Richard. “Now let’s try 
a genuine post-h^’pnotic hallucination. It won’t 
take five minutes. You don’t feel tired, do 
you?” 

“Not in the least. Am I to go to sleep again ?” 

“Yes. Sleep now. Sleep at once. You can 
be asleep before I count ten. Sleep now,” and 
he counted slowly up to six before the hypnotic 
sigh told him that his subject was asleep. 

“You are fast asleep,” he said. “Did it seem 
strange to you that Miss Deverest should disap- 
pear from view just now?” 


136 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“Rather Strange,” the subject replied, and 
she laughed. “It was just her head, 3^ou know, 
and the head was laughing and talking ” 

“Yes, it was rather odd, no doubt,” said Rich- 
ard. “Now I want you to attend to me very 
carefully.” The subject’s face assumed an in- 
tent and serious look. 

“You will wake up in two minutes,” he con- 
tinued, “feeling perfectly well, and you will talk 
to us for five minutes. You understand that you 
will be wide awake. Then at the end of that 
five minutes, you will see the figure of your 
friend Mr. Brown standing by the piano in the 
next room, and he will sing before a large audi- 
ence a verse of ‘Alice, Ben Bolt.’ You will bo 
wide awake, remembGr,throughout this,and when 
his song is ended you will tell us how he 
sung it. Now remember, you will wake up in 
two minutes; and you will not hear or see Mr. 
Brown until another five minutes have elapsed. 
Don’t forget.” 

“No, I shall not Jorget,” she answered. 
“Wh}' do you speak so loud?” 

“Do you hear me distinctly?” 

“Yes, your voice beats in my ears. It seems 
to deafen me.” 


A DIFFICULT SUBJECT 


137 


‘‘Very well. I will speak lower. Sleep now, 
quietly.” 

When her two minutes had expiree the sub- 
ject awoke as directed, and inquired if the ex- 
periment were at an end. 

“It is all over,” said Richard, mendaciously. 
“You have done well, and I am greatly obliged 
to you.” 

“What have I been doing?” 

“Well, you informed us that it was interesting 
to you to know that Miss Deverest’s head could 
exist independently of her body.” 

“I don’t understand you.” 

“Briefly then, you remembered as soon as you 
were asleep just what transpired in the previous 
hypnosis. I had given you the suggestion that 
your friend would disappear from view, and 
onl}^ her head remain. If you had been given 
the suggestion that you would remember every- 
thing when you VN'oke, you would be able to talk 
over the whole experiment now. But I do not 
know that it is advisable, to discuss everything 
that you do. It may tend to lessen the force 
of suggestions given you during hypnosis. I 
think you had better be left in the dark.” 

‘‘So I am to miss all the funi” 


138 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“No, I will tell you of anj^thing important 
that happens.” 

“Well, I must give you a cup of coffee,” she 
said, rising. “I shall be back in a minute.” 

When she had left the room Richard said, 
turning to Miss Deverest, “She has just two min- 
utes more before her visionary friend, Mr. 
Brown, appears.” 

“Will she see him, do you think?” 

“Undoubtedly. Hallucinations are not so 
easy to induce as delusions, but she is a remark- 
able subject.” 

“I don’t quite see the difference between the 
two.” 

“Well, it’s this way. If she takes a match 
in her hand, and believes it to be a bunch of 
violets, it’s a delusion. But if she has nothing in 
her hand, and I tell her she holds a bunch of 
violets, it’s a hallucination. If she carries out 
this experiment properly there will be a double 
hallucination — of sight and hearing.” 

“Oh, I see. And a post-hypnotic suggestion 
is one which is to be carried out after the sleep, 
when the subject is awake?” 

“Just so. What I want to find out is whether, 
when the subject begins to carry out a post-hyp- 


A DIFFICULT SUBJECT 


139 


notic suggestion, she goes back into the sleep 
state to do it. I am pretty sure she does in the 
case of a hallucination, but I am not so certain 
of other forms of suggestion. For instance, if 
I told her that five minutes after she awoke she 
w’ould hand me a letter from the table, I do not 
think she would be in a sleep state, or open to 
receive other suggestions, while she was doing 
this. Her time is up,"” he added, pulling out 
his watch, “and here she comes.” 

Mrs. Rawlinson appeared in the doorway, 
with her eyes wide open, and the pupils slightly 
converged ; an apron was tied about her waist, 
and she held a spoon in one hand. Fler glance 
was directed beyond the two present towards the 
folding doors, and she moved forward slowl}^ 
and took a seat which commanded a view of the 
piano in the next room. Her eyes never wandered 
from the piano, and she nodded her head slowly 
in time to some imaginary music, while her ex- 
pression betokened pleasure. 

“What is it?” asked Richard in a whisper. 

“ Hush, he is singing ‘Ben Bolt,’” she replied, 
in the same tone. 

“He seems to be coughing a good deal,” he 
objected. 


140 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


The subject looked annoyed. “Yes, he has 
a cold,” she said. 

“It’s very disagreeable to his audience,” he 
pursued. “He shouldn’t be allowed to sing in 
public.” 

“I wish he had not such a dreadful cough,” 
she said, with a vexed air. 

“Hark, they are hissing him,” he said. “How 
very unfortunate!” 

“Oh, I am so sorry for him. He can sing 
much better than that.” 

“It is all over now,” said Richard. “See, 
he has made his bow. How did you like his 
voice?” 

“Oh, dreadful,” she siid, “but I think it 
would be ai good one if — if — ” with a start— 
“why, what am I doing here, with this apron 
on? Oh, I know,” she added quickly, “excuse 
m}^ appearance, Mr. Robinson ; I just came in 
to ask you if you liked the milk boiled with the 
coffee. I am making it myself, you know.” 

“Thanks, I’m not particular,” he said, “any- 
thing will please me.” 

“You must be a very pleasant person to cook 
for,” she rejoined. “I shan’t keep you very 
long,” and she left the room. 

“Ha! just so,” said Richard. “In a sugges- 


A DIFFICULT SUBJECT 


I4I 

live state all the while, and remembers nothing 
about it. Better say nothing to her, I think. 
Miss Deverest, about this experiment. I don’t 
want her to wonder too much.” 

“Could she have been sent to sleep for half 
an hour, say, just before she came to herself?” 
askd Miss Deverest. 

“Oh yes. I haven’t a doubt of it. Every 
symptom of somnambulism was present, and 
although the suggestions I gave her bore directly 
upon the hallucination, I am certain that if I had 
told her there was a snake upon her dress, she 
would have seen the reptile, and been much 
alarmed. In other words, foreign suggestions 
to her train of thought would have been just as 
readily accepted as those I plied her with.” 

“It seems a rather dreadful thing to me, in 
spite of your assurance that there is no danger 
in such experimenting,” she said. 

“There is absolutely no danger in suggesting 
these delusions,” he said, “if they are intelli- 
gently carried out. But I always make a point 
of safeguarding the subject by final suggestions 
when the seance is over. Here comes the coffee, 
and I’ll show you what I mean.” 

“Mrs. Rawlinson,” he said, when his hostess 
had put down the tray, “before we turn our at- 


142 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


tention to the refreshment of the body, will you 
permit me to remove all possible hypnotic in- 
fluence which may be yet clinging to you?” 

“But I feel perfectly well,” she said. “What 
do you want to do?” 

“Just sleep for one minute,” he answered; 
“the coffee will not spoil in that time. Would 
you mind ?” 

“Oh no, if you wish me to,” she said, sitting 
down. 

“Sleep then. Quickly. Sleep. Sleep sound. 
You are asleep. Are you not?” 

“Yes.” 

“You have had a pleasant evening. You 
feel no fatigue. No headache, no pain, no un- 
pleasant effects of any kind whatever. You are 
strong and well. You have no nervousness, no 
headache. They have gone, and can never re- 
turn. You will sleep soundly to-night as soon 
as 3^our head touches the pillow. Wake up of 
your own accord, feeling perfectly well, and 
wake up smiling. Choose your own time, and 
wake up smiling.” 

In just a minute and a half she opened her 
eyes and smiled. 

“Have I been asleep so soon?” she asked. 
“Come, let’s have our supper.” 


CHAPTER VI. 


A DECIDED CHECK. 

Time passed very pleasantly for Richard in 
the main. He was greatly interested in his 
psychological experiments, and almost every 
evening found him ait Mrs. Rawlinson’s house, 
expounding theories regarding hypnotic phe- 
nomena or practically testing the same with 
the assistance of his hostess as subject or medi- 
um. For Miss Deverest’s society he had begun 
to experience a preference above that of all 
other women of his acquaintance, and he was 
content to accept the fact that he was head 
over ears in love with her, without seeking to 
account for his own feelings or to postulate hers. 
He could not fail to observe, however, that an 
unmistakable coolness had arisen between the 
two ladies, and if his attentions to Miss Deverest 
had occurred to him as being the cause of this 
antagonism he would have scouted the idea as 
ridiculous. But he was made painfully aware 
143 


144 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


of the significance of the situation on a certain 
evening when the objectionable Mr. Brown 
was present in person to witness his discomfi- 
ture. The latter gentleman had not abated one 
jot of his hostile attitude to h^^^notism in general, 
and he expressed himself as delighted to dis- 
cover that Miss Deverest had sufficient strength 
of will to resist the induction of the hypnotic 
sleep. / 

‘‘But I am most anxious to go under the in- 
fiuence,” she said. “It is only because I am 
unable to concentrate my thoughts that I am a 
bad subject.” 

“ It is very creditable to you, I think,” an- 
swered he, and Richard smiled grimly. 

“You shall have the credit of being too men- 
tally active to submit yourself,” he said. “Be 
patient, and the rest will follow.” 

Mr. Brown shrugged his shoulders. “Is the 
power to be put to sleep a thing to be coveted ?” 
he asked. 

“It is in my case,” she replied. 

“Do you observe, Mrs. Rawlinson, that you 
are progressing gradually, yourself?” Richard 
said. “You are doing things now when 3^11 are 
hypnotized that you could not have done at all 


A DECIDED CHECK 


H5 

a week ago. A somnambulist must be trained 
before she can develop her power properly. I 
don’t know its limits ; I suppose no one else does ; 
but you may even become a telepathist or a 
clairvoyant in time.” 

“Do you believe I could learn to read the 
future ?” 

“I cannot say what you might do. I have 
had no evidence yet of telepathy in any of m}^ 
experiments, and clairvo3’ance is a step beyond 
this. I am not going to tell you what I do or 
do not believe, for two very good reasons. Firsts 
I don’t know myself; and second, I don’t wish 
to give you any suggestion which might lead 
you to put a limit to your development in your 
own mind. I am only an investigator. We 
all want to discover the truth, I suppose.” 

“I hope 3^ou won’t allow yourself to associate 
with familiar spirits, Mrs. Rawlinson,” said 
Mr. Brown. “Most clairvoyants, as they are 
called, have one or two spiritual beings within 
hail, who convey the startling intelligence to 
their visitors that they have gone, or are about 
to go, upon a journey.” 

“I think it’s very good of the spirits to take 
so much trouble over little things,” said Miss 


146 A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 

Deverest; “I am sure you will never be un- 
selfish enough to ‘return,’ Mr. Brown.” 

“I have not gone yet,” answered that gentle- 
man, skeptically. 

“Of course there’s a lot of fraud about the 
business of clairvoyance, and professional medi- 
umship in general,” said Richard. “But what 
can you expect? Every one hankers more or 
less after the miraculous, and this craving in 
our natures is the best reason for assuming that 
material life, as we know it, does not satisfy 
mankind. It is only an unhealthy condition of 
mind when it becomes morbid; and if properly 
directed, as it will be when psychic phenomena 
are understood, it should be of great advantage 
in the development of the race.” 

“You won’t get much profit from a clairvoy- 
ant and her spirits,” said Mr. Brown. 

“A clairvoyant does not always profess to be 
guided by spirits,” answered Richard. “She 
may not have been taught to believe that her 
visions of future or past happenings are due to 
any supernatural powers. There is nothing in 
spiritualism, or spiritism, as they call it now, 
beyond theory. All the manifestations of spirit- 
istic phenomena can be rationally accounted for 


A DECIDED CHECK 


147 


as evidence of the power of the subjective mind 
of the medium, highly cultivated, and assisted 
by suggestion. It will be time enough to admit 
the supernatural theory when we have come to 
the limit of natural law', and that has not been 
reached yet, by any means.” 

Mrs.Rawlinson had been engaged in an apa- 
thetic attempt to fit the tips of the fingers of one 
hand accurately upon the tips of the fingers of the 
other during this discussion, and appeared to take 
very little interest in anything that w'as said. 
Her listless manner struck Richard suddenly as 
unusual, and he rallied her about it. 

“I shall have to give you a suggestion to re- 
move that languor,” he said. 

“I don’t think it would have any effect,” she 
said. “I have almost made up my mind not to 
be h34motized any more.” 

“You don’t feel any ill effects, do you?” 

“Oh no. But I don’t think I shall go any 
further with these experiments.” 

“Why, Blanche I” protested Miss Deverest. 

“Well, Rachel?” 

The two ladies looked at each other, and 
Miss Rachel’s eyes dropped. 

“Why, I thought— you said — ,” she began, 
coloring. 


148 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“I have changed my mind then,” said Mrs. 
Rawlinson, coldly, and an awkward silence en- 
sued. It was broken by Mr. Brown. 

“I am very glad,” he said, “to hear you say 
so. You have seen the danger — ” 

“Oh, I don’t admit that there is any danger,” 
his hostess interrupted, “and I am very grateful 
to Mr. Robinson for all his trouble, and — glad 
that I have proved so useful — such an excellent 
subject, in short.” 

“I am afraid I have displeased you in some 
way,” said Richard, in an embarrassed tone. 
“Of course it must be entirely as you wish. I 
am honestly sorry, though, that you have come 
to this dete|*mination. We were getting on so 
well.” 

“Were we?” asked the lady, indifferently. 
Then with a sudden change of tone, she added, 
and there was a light in her eye as she looked 
at Miss Deverest, “ But you may try once more if 
you like, Mr. Robinson. This evening shall 
be devoted to a final seance.” 

“Perhaps you would rather not do anything 
this evening,” said Richard ; “let us wait till 
another time.” 

“No, it must be now,” she persisted. “You 
may never have the^opportunity again.” 


A DECIDED CHECK 


149 


“Why, then, I shall try to make the most of 
it,” he said. “Let yourself goto sleep then, 
sitting just as you are. You can sleep in ten 
seconds.” 

The subject closed her eyes and remained 
seemingly passive for half a minute, but there 
was no evidence of the smile which always de- 
noted her h3’pnotization. 

“You are going to sleep,” he said. “You 
are fast asleep. Are you not?” 

“No,” she said. “ I don’t seem able to sleep.” 

“Of course you can,” he said. “Let’s go 
back to our first method. Give me your hand 
and look into my eyes. Now go to sleep. Let 
yourself go. You must sleep.” 

“It is no use,” she said, having fixed her 
eyes steadily upon his for’ several minutes. 
“You have no power over me.” 

“This is m.ost extraordinary,” said Richard, 
and Mr. Brown chuckled. 

The sound seemed to rouse Richard, 

“I never said I had any power over you. I 
never thought it. Surely I have told you often 
enough that the pow'er is in yourself. You 
can go to sleep if you wish to. Has any one 
else hypnotized you?” 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


150 

“No.” 

“Then you haven’t had a post-hypnotic sug- 
gestion that you would not go to sleep for me 
any more?” 

“Of course not. No one has hypnotized me 
but you.” 

“I began to think that must be the explana- 
tion,” he said, “but now I know that it all rests 
with yourself. Make yourself passive and sleep. 
Do tr}^ now, quietly.” 

“Very well. I mean to go to sleep now,” 
she said, and closed her eyes while he held her 
hand. Soon the hypnotic smile, accompanied 
by the short sigh, told that she was asleep, and 
Richard put her hand down and felt greatl}^ re- 
lieved. As her hand touched her knee, the 
subject awoke with a start. 

“Why did you wake me?” she asked. 

“I did not speak,” he replied. 

“Something woke me,” she persisted. 

“Go to sleep again,” he said soothingly. 
“Close your eyes again, and go to sleep.” 

The subject obeyed, and Richard, watching 
her this time from a distance, spoke gently 
when he was sure she slept. 

“You are asleep?” 


A DECIDED CHECK 


“Sleep soundly now. You are fast asleep. 
I am going to try — ” 

The subject awoke, as before, with a start. 

“I don’t like you to wake me like that,” she 
said. 

“I assure you no one touched you or woke 
you,” he answered, much perplexed. “Weren’t 
you asleep?” 

“Yes, but you woke me up.” 

“Try again,” he said. “Go to sleep, and 
sleep soundly. I shall not wake you or disturb 
you. You will hear me speaking to you, but you 
will not wake. Sleep.” 

The subject relaxed into a condition of pas- 
sivity, and Richard allowed five minutes to elapse 
before he said: 

“Now you are fast asleep. Fast asleep and 
quite comfortable. Quite easy in your mind. 
In a sound sleep, are you not?” 

“Yes.” 

“You have been waking yourself up,” he 
said; “don’t do that. You will sleep until I tell 
you to wake; do you hear?” 

“Yes.” 


“You will remember that?” 


152 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


‘‘Of course.’’ 

“Sleep on then. Sleep soundly. I want you 
to go into a profound — ” 

“Slumber” he was going to say, as an im- 
provement upon the repetition of the word 
“sleep,” but Mrs. Rawlinson prevented him by 
waking. 

“Why did you wake me?” she asked again. 

Richard walked backwards to a chair, with 
his eyes fastened upon her, found the chair with 
his hand, and sat down in a silent amazement. 

“I don’t understand it at all,” he said at 
length. 

“Don’t understand what?” she asked. 

“Why, this waking up. It’s— it’s- — unheard of. 
There isn’t' a parallel case cited in an}^ author- 
ity upon the subject of hypnotism!” 

“You ought to be glad, then, of the chance of 
studying an anomaly,” put in Miss Deverest. 

“It must be rather awkward when the sub- 
ject asserts herself in this manner,” said Mr. 
Brown, unkindly. “If you were lecturing upon 
the phenomena of hypnotism, for instance, to 
a class! eh?” 

“There is something here I don’t understand,” 
said Richard, “and can’t account for. Unless,” 


A DECIDED CHECK 


153 


he added, brightening up, “the explanation is 
that you have been doing too much lately, and 
your subjective mind takes this means of pro- 
tecting your health.” 

“Seems a little far-fetched to me 1” murmured 
Mr. Brown. 

“Perhaps you have a theory of your own,” 
said Richard, turning to him, and glad of a 
chance to work off his irritation. 

“Can’t say I have,” rejoined the other, im- 
perturbably. “Is the seance at an end, Mrs. 
Rawlinson ?” 

“You must ask Mr. Robinson,” she replied. 
“What is it? Haven’t I done my part well to- 
night?” 

“I must think this thing out,” said Richard. 
“I think I will go home and wrestle with it,” 
and he bowed himself out. 

“I wish you w'ould tell me why you acted in 
such a refractory manner,” said Mr. Brown to 
his hostess, confidentially, as he took his leave. 
“It did me good to see it, but how did you do 
it? Was it my influence?” 

“Was I refractory?” she asked. “I was not 
aware of it. Good-night.” 

“Well, I hope you’re proud of yourself,” 


154 ^ STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 

said Miss Deverest when they were alone to- 
gether. “Really, Blanche, I thought you had 
more — ” She paused. 

“More what?” asked Mrs. Rawlinson. 
“More what?” she repeated, with a stamp of 
her foot. “What do you mean, Rachel?” 

“Well, I’m going to bed,” said Miss Rachel. 
Mrs.' Rawlinson burst into tears, and her friend 
instantly put her arms round her. 

“There, don’t cry; don’t cry,” she said, 
quietly. 

But Mrs. Rawlinson was not to be soothed. 
“I don’t want you to touch me,” she said, with 
an attempt at dignity, turning away. 

“Very well, only don’t say anything foolish, 
Blanche; you will be sorry if you do. Good- 
night.” 

Mrs. Rawlinson returned no answer, and 
Miss Rachel departed to her room. 

“She is old enough to know better,” she said 
to her reflection in the glass. She put her elbows 
on the table, and held her face between her 
hands. “I can’t help it, if he does,” she said 
argumentatively ; and added in self-justification, 
“I don’t see why I shouldn’t be amused I” 
There being no answer apparently to her re- 


A DECIDED CHECK 


155 


marks, she undressed and went to bed. She 
was dozing peacefully when her friend’s voice 
roused her to consciousness. 

“Rachel,” said Mrs. Rawlinson, in a tearful 
whisper, as she bent over her, “ are you awake ?” 

“Dear me, Blanche, are you trying to hyp- 
notize me?” 

“I came to tell you that I think I have been 
very foolish.” 

“Of course you have,” said Miss Deverest. 
“Don’t do it again, dear.” 

“Oh, Rachel, you are like a stone. I believe 
you are a heartless coquette.” 

Miss Deverest laughed. “Do go to bed, and 
be sensible, Blanche,” she said, “and never let 
a man see that you have a heart. Fortunately 
men are very dense. Good-night, dear; I’m 
going to sleep.” 

Mrs. Rawlinson sighed and left her. 

“I don’t know,” said Richard to himself, 
when he reached his lodgings, “what that ass 
Brown thinks about it, but I’m blessed if I can 
understand this thing at all. I have turned it 
over and overj and there is only one possible 
explanation. I shall have to admit, I suppose, 
that there is such a thing as an opposing and 


156 A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 

antagonistic force, thrown out by a skeptic, 
and that a man like Brown can, by the mere 
exercise of his will, awaken a hypnotized person. 
But that’s rubbish;! don’t believe in mental 
suggestion, when there is no verbal suggestion 
accompanying it. I shall ask her about it to- 
morrow. But what if no explanation is forth- 
coming? I must get to the bottom of it some- 
how.” 


CHAPTER VII. 


COUNTER SUGGESTION. 

On the following morning Richard called 
upon Mrs. Rawlinson, and was graciously re- 
ceived by that lady. 

“Miss Deverest is out,” she said, “do you 
feel very disappointed?” 

“I particularly wanted to see you,” he re- 
plied, “and my wish is gratified. You are look- 
ing very weh to-da3\” 

“I feel much better than I did last night.” 

“Were you ill?” he inquired eagerly, with 
less s^’mpathy in his tone than curiosity. 

“I don’t think I was quite myself.” 

“Then perhaps that may explain it. Do you 
know, Mrs. Rawlinson, I have been puzzling 
over what happened yesterday evening — your 
waking up, you know — and I can make nothing 
of it.” 

“I daresay I can give you the key,” she an- 
swered, “but if I do, you must let it remain a 
secret between us.” 


157 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


158 

“ Of course,” he said vehemently. “ I shouldn’t 
think of breathing a word of what you may 
tell me to any one.” 

“It isn’t anything very important,” she said, 
with a faint smile. “It is only that I said to my- 
self early in the evening that I would not let you 
use me any longer as a hypnotic subject.” 

“Then you really woke yourself up by auto- 
suggestion !” 

“I suppose so, although I had an impression 
that you woke me by speaking to me.” 

“ This is remarkable,” he cried. “ I am amazed 
at the power of simple auto-suggestion. Yet 
there is nothing to wonder at really. I might 
have knovyn that that was the explanation; — but 
you seemed quite willing to sleep.” 

“I was willing to sleep,” she said, “but I 
wanted to show you that I could assert myself 
if I chose to do so. I objected to being regarded 
purely as an object of scientific interest. So I 
would not carry out any experiments.” 

Richard was so wrapped up in the contempla- 
tion of the case as it affected his theory of the 
power of suggestion, that he failed to discern the 
personal pique manifested in her reply. 

“Well, well,” he said, “we learn by degrees. 


COUNTER SUGGESTION 


159 


Of course the power of auto-suggestion is great- 
er than any other force brought to bear on the 
subject’s mind. I should have known that, but 
I could not see any reason for its exercise in 
this case; that is what misled me.” 

Mrs. Rawlinson sighed. He proceeded vol- 
ubly. 

“This establishes my contention that a person 
cannot be hypnotized, much less caused to per- 
form actions contrary to his nature, against his 
will. If I suggested to you, for instance, when 
you were hypnotized, that you should take a 
ride on horseback, and lifted you into the sad- 
dle by leading you to a rocking-chair, you 
might take your imaginary canter over the 
grass and believe that you were really on horse- 
back; but if you objected to riding, or if there 
were any one present in the room before whom 
you disliked to carry out these experiments, 
you would refuse to accept the suggestion abso- 
lutely. I could not make you do anything 
which your instinct disapproved of. And this 
is as true in the deepest, as in the lightest stages 
of hypnosis. The auto-suggestion of the sub- 
ject is ready to be called into play at any time; 
it is held merel}^ passive; it is never destroyed. 


i6o 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


Your subjective consciousness is always able to 
protect you, and the subject is never really dom- 
inated by the will of the operator. You agree 
to do, to see, or to believe certain things which 
are suggested to you, only because there is 
nothing in those things of which 3 mur waking 
consciousness would disapprove.” 

“Yes, I understand that,” she said. 

“Then why should you wish to discontinue 
the experiments?” he asked, bluntly. 

“I don’t know; I think it must. have been be- 
cause Mr. Brown was present,” she replied, 
weakly. 

“No doubt,” said Richard, “no doubt that 
was the reason. I see it all now. He is the 
sort of man whom it is not worth while to tr}^ to 
convince of anything. You were perfectly right ; 
only he has gone away now with a false impres- 
sion.” 

“ What does it matter what Mr. Brown thinks ?” 
she cried, impatiently. 

“Not a bit, not a bit; but then ^mu seemed to 
care yesterday evening.” 

“Well, let us talk of something else,” she 
said. 

“Dear me, I’m a stupid ass,” he thought; 


COUNTER SUGGESTION 


i6i 


“she’s probably sweet on that muff Brown.’’ 
Aloud he remarked, “By all means, but you 
know hypnotism is the only thing I can talk 
about.” 

“Then talk hypnotism,” she said. “I like to 
see you very much in earnest.” 

“Now that’s very sweet of you. I’m afraid 
I bore you sometimes.” 

“No, you never bore me, though most men 
do.” 

Richard could not but feel the force of the 
compliment, and being a man, he was flattered 
thereat. 

“Then I hope you’ll revoke your decision,” 
he said, following up his advantage. 

“Not to be hypnotized any more? Oh yes, 
you may hypnotize me now if you want to.” 

“Thanks. I always want to. Where is Miss 
Deverest? She would like to see the experi- 
ment.” 

“Miss Deverest is out, as I told you. Is her 
presence necessary?” 

“Not at all,” said Richard, feeling he had 
blundered somehow. “Will you go to sleep 
now ?” 

“Yes,” she said, “but you must hold my 
hand.” 


I 62 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“Certainly,” he replied readily. “Now close 
your e3^es, and go fast asleep.” 

With a sigh of content the lady relaxed, and 
in less than a minute was sleeping calmly. 
Richard made a motion to withdraw his hand, 
but her fingers closed more tightly upon his, 
and a slight frown ruffled her forehead. 

“Now you are sleeping soundly,” he said, 
stroking her brow with his disengaged hand, 
“and 3’ou are quite comfortable and happy. 
Your hands are quite cold, and the fingers are 
relaxing, relaxing, and the hand which holds 
mine is unclosing, and falls gently to your side. 
So.” 

He grinned at the subterfuge, and released 
his imprisoned hand. “Now tell me,” he said, 
“frankl3q why you woke up so repeatedly last 
night. You remember doing so?” 

“Yes.” 

“Wh3^ did you do it? Had I displeased you 
in any way?” 

“Yes.” 

“How then?” 

The subject seemed to struggle with herself, 
and then said, confusedly: 

“I thought you did not like me any more.” 


COUNTER SUGGESTION 


163 



He almost jumped to his feet, but thought 
better of it. Light was beginning to dawn upon 
him at last. To himself he said, “I must settle 
this now.” 

‘‘Why should you think such a thing?” he 
asked, to gain time. 

“You only seemed to take an interest in me 
when you could make use of me for Rachel’s 
benefit,” she said. 

“And of course you did not like that.” 

“Of course not.” 

“I quite agree with you. But you are all 
wrong in your supposition. Now attend to me, 
and listen very carefully, because you must 
never forget what I am going to tell you. That 
is to say, your subjective mind must never for- 
get, but your waking mind will not remember 
anything of this conversation. Do you agree?” 

“Yes.” 

“Then listen. I take a great interest in hyp- 
notism, and a great interest in you both as a per- 
sonal friend and as a hypnotic subject. I like 
you extremely as a friend, and you like me as 
a friend. Do you understand?” 

“Yes.” 

“You have no warmer regard for me than 


164 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 



you have for Miss Deverest, or any other of 
your friends. You are too strong a woman to 
form useless attachments. You have no thought 
of marr^’ing again, and no idea of falling in 
love with any one. You find plenty to occupy 
your mind without thinking of foolish things. 
You are interested in these experiments because 
they are scientific, and you are able with my 
help to advance the cause of truth in this mat - 
ter of hypnotism. You love the truth for its own 
sake. You are ready to go on with the experi- 
ments for this reason, and for this reason alone. 
You care nothing for me beyond the fact that I 
am helping you to study these phenomena, as 
you are hejping me. We are partners in this 
business, if you prefer to call it so, and beyond 
this you do not go a step. You have no idea 
of falling in love with me. You never had such 
an idea. You never will have. I am no more 
to you than any other friend, and you never 
thought of me otherwise. You will never for- 
get this?” 

“No.” 

“Remember then, when you wake up, these 
ideas will have taken firm root. You will not re- 
gard me other than as a friend, and I shall be 


COUNTER SUGGESTION 1 65 

proud always to so regard you. I value your 
friendship very much. Remember that you are 
interested in hypnotism for its own sake. Read 
all you can on the subject, and learn to pick 
out truth from error. Do you hear me?” 

“Yes.” 

“Don’t forget then. This matter is buried, 
forgotten, and done with. You will not recall 
what I have said when you wake; and during 
any subsequent hypnosis, you will not be able to 
remember in that state what I have just been 
saying to you. So it is hidden from your ob- 
jective mind, and safely locked in your subjec- 
tive, and you have given me the onlj^ key which 
can unlock it. This key I throw away now. 

“You understand that when you wake it will 
be as it was in the beginning between us, when 
you were first hypnotized. I have spoken quite 
frankly, because we are talking soul to soul, 
and truth is best. You do not feel pained in 
the least.” 

“Oh no,” she said readily. “Not the least.” 

“Very good,” he rejoined, assuming his 
habitual tone. “That is all done with. You 
will forget the words, but the effect will always 
remain. Now we will not try any experiments 


1 66 A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 

this morning. I’ll just give you a few sugges- 
tions instead.” 

‘‘Your disposition is to be happy,” he said, 
laying his hand on her forehead, “to be happy 
and to see the bright side of life. You are to 
enjoy yourself. The petty cares of existence, the 
little worries, the vexations, the disappoint- 
ments, will not have more than a passing influ- 
ence upon you. You will find an absolute jo}^ 
in doing your duty, and doing good to others. 
It is your nature to be unselfish, and in this you 
are more blessed than the most of us. Most 
people prate of the irksomeness of duty, but 
to you it will be a simple pleasure. If sor- 
row comes, as it must come, or this life would 
be no training ground for the soul, you will 
bear it bravely, and even find comfort in dis- 
comfort. You will draw the sting from pain-, 
because for you there is no such feeling as de- 
spair. Your faith is built on rock, and the con- 
tent of peace is yours already. A calm temper, 
a serenity of mind, and a steadfastness of pur- 
pose are all yours, and none can take them from 
you. They are as much a part of your heritage 
as woman as are your lofty ideals and aspira- 
tions. It is only now that you understand tint 


COUNTER SUGGESTION 


167 


they are within your reach. You can command 
yourself, because your soul’s power is absolute. 
You will live up to your aspirations and ideals, 
remembering always that the best that is in you 
is your real self; the baser and more ignoble 
thoughts and desires are faults of your phj^sical 
being; they are not yourself; they do not be- 
long of right to the true ego. Wake up now in 
your own time. But just a moment. Can I come 
over this evening?” 

“Come at nine o’clock,” she said. 

“Very well. Will you carry out a post-hyp- 
notic suggestion for me?” 

“Yes.” 

“You will go to sleep, then, when the clock 
strikes nine this evening, and you will not wake 
till I touch you on the forehead. Do you agree?” 

“Yes.”' 

“Wake up, then, when you feel inclined to, 
and forget all that has passed. Wake up feel- 
ing well and happy.” 

The subject stirred and smiled, and in a min- 
ute and a half opened her eyes and sat up 
straight in her chair. 

“A minute and a half seems to be your time,” 
said Richard. “Why is that?” 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


1 68 

“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t like be- 
ing waked suddenly; it seems to give me a 
shock.” 

“Then it is better to leave you to yourself,” 
he said. “Oh, here’s Miss Deverest.” 

“Well, Rachel,” said Mrs. Rawlinson, “you 
have just missed a seance.” 

“Have I? How do you do, Mr. Robinson? I 
think you might have waited for me. So you 
did not prove refractory this morning, Blanche ?” 

“Oh no,” said Mrs. Rawlinson, laughing, 
“I didn’t give any trouble, did I, Mr. Robin- 
son?” 

“You were very good,” said Richard. “Mrs. 
Rawlinso,n objected to the presence of Mr. 
Brown last night, I think,” he added to Miss 
Deverest. 

“Oh!” said that young lad3^ 

“Is he to be here this evening?” Richard 
inquired. 

“I don’t know. He has not been asked, but 
he might drop in,” said Mrs. Rawlinson, “but 
can you come yourself? Rachel andT will be 
out for dinner, but after that — say, at nine?” 

“Thanks. I shall be very glad to come. Ati 
revoir then.” 


COUNTER SUGGESTION 1 69 

When he had gone Miss Rachel looked curi- 
ously at her friend. 

“Blanche, dear,” she said, “I am obliged 
to cut my visit short. Isn’t it horrid? See, I 
have a telegram from aunt asking me to come 
quickly, as she wants to see me.” 

“Don’t go, Rachel. Can’t you make an ex- 
cuse? Your aunt is not ill, surely?” 

“Oh, there’s nothing the matter with her, or 
I should have heard of it. But I think I’d bet- 
ter go.” 

“Now why should you, Rachel? There’s 
something else; tell me what it is.” 

“Don’t fly into a temper then, Blanche, and 
remember you asked me to tell you.” 

“Yes, please tell me.” 

“I think then,” said Miss Rachel, drawing 
off her gloves, “that I would rather not spoil 
sport. It strikes me that I am in the way.” 

“I don’t understand you.” 

“You can if you want to.” 

“Really, I don’t know what you mean.” 

“Blanche I” cried Miss Deverest, with a lam- 
entable lapse into slang, “you know you are 
getting mashed on Mr. Robinson!” 

“What an absurd thing!” cried Mrs. Rawlin- 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


170 

son, with a laugh that was not forced. “Oh, 
Rachel, how silly of you! I am not likely to 
fall in love with any one, I assure you — least of 
all with Mr. Robinson I” and she laughed again. 

Miss Rachel was much puzzled. This was 
not acting. 

“You seemed to me to be growing very fond 
of Mr. Robinson,” she remarked. 

“I like Mr. Robinson as a friend, certainly, 
but I don’t want him for a husband. That’s a 
most foolish fancy of yours, and I should be 
very sorry if he ever heard of it. I don’t want 
to drive him awa}" just yet.” 

Miss Deverest laughed, and took her friend’s 
hands in h^ers. 

“Forgive me, Blanche,” she said, prettily, 
“I must be growing very stupid.” 

“I’ll forgive you if you never think such a 
thing again, and if you’ll promise not to leave 
me.” 

“Oh, aunt can wait,” said Miss Rachel. “But 
you are sure I shall not be in the way?” 

“You seem to be a good deal in Mr. Robin- 
son’s way,” said Mrs. Rawlinson, smiling. 

“Oh, you are trying to turn the tables now,” 
said her friend. “Let me go, Blanche.” 


COUNTER SUGGESTION 


I7I 

“Are you much interested in hypnotism?” 
asked Mrs. Rawlinson, detaining her. 

“Of course I am.” 

“And in the professor 

“Not at all.” 

“H’m! I have my doubts as to that.” 

“Indeed, you are quite wrong, Blanche. He 
amuses me, certainly, and he’s very nice, and 
all that — but — ” 

“But what?” 

“Oh well, he has eyes only for his science.” 

“I think I have seen him using them for other 
ends. Just observe him this evening.” 

“Indeed, I shall do no such thing,” said Miss 
Rachel, with a toss of her curls. 


CHAPTER VIIL 


SUBJECTIVE PHENOMENA. 

It was a little after nine when Richard 
knocked at Mrs. Rawlinson’s front door. Miss 
Deverest opened it. “I knew your knock,” 
she said, “and I wanted to let you in at once. 
Come this way quickly.” 

She led him to the drawing-room without 
further parley, and pointed to the figure of Mrs. 
Rawlinson sitting motionless in her chair, with 
her eyes closed. 

“Surely you are not alarmed ?” Richard said. 

“Yes, I am. Any one would be,” said Miss 
Deverest rapidly. “She was talking to me quite 
rationally a few minutes ago, and suddenly she 
sighed and went to sleep. I could not wake 
her. Please try yourself.” 

“There is no hurry,” said Richard. “She 
is only carrying out a post-hypnotic suggestion, 
which was given her this morning, I assure 
172 


SUBJECTIVE PHENOMENA 


^73 


you she is all right. If you will permit me I 
will go and take off my coat. Did you speak to 
her?” . - 

“Yes, and she could not answer.” 

“You mean she would not. You were x\^\.en 
ra-pfort with her. She will answer me. Mrs. 
Rawlinson,” he said, “are you asleep?” 

“Yes.” 

“I want you to speak to Miss Deverest while 
I take off my coat downstairs.” 

“Very well.” 

“Blanche, can you hear me?” Miss Deverest 
asked, anxiously. 

“Of course. Don’t shout so, Rachel.” 

“Well, but you frightened me, Blanche. Why 
didn’t you speak to me before Mr. Robinson 
came in ?” 

“I did not hear you.” 

“But I called you and shook you.” 

“I did not feel anything.” 

“Please don’t do it again. Why did you go 
to sleep?” 

“Because I wanted to.” 

“Did you hear Mr. Robinson come in?” 

“Oh yes.” 

“Did you hear me speaking to him at the 
door?” 


174 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


‘‘No.” 

“Did you hear him speaking to me when he 
came into this room?” 

“Yes.” 

“What did he say?” 

'■Told you not to be alarmed, or something 
like that.” 

“Well, why couldn’t you hear me too, 
Blanche ?” 

“I don’t know.” 

Just then Richard returned and Miss Deverest 
repeated her question to him. “Why couldn’t 
she hear me speaking to you?” she asked. 

“She did hear you,” said Richard, “but she 
did not heed.” 

“That is rather too fine a distinction. Ex- 
plain, please.” 

“She heard you speaking, and if her subjec- 
tive mind were told to repeat what you had 
said, she could remember everything, and re- 
peat it,” he said. “She merely did not wish to 
pay attention to you. She was en raf^ort with 
me only. But the sense of the words you uttered 
is recorded in her subjective memory, though 
she may not be aware of the fact. That is to 
say, their meaning has not reached her subjec- 


SUBJECTIVE PHENOMENA 


175 


tive consciousness up to this time. Now ob- 
serve. Mrs. Rawlinsori,” he said, “you can 
remember what Miss Deverestsaid to you. You 
remember her words?” 

The subject smiled. “Oh yes, she asked a 
lot of questions when you were gone.” 

“But before that,” said Miss Deverest, “ when 
you first went to sleep, Blanche.” 

“I remember,” said the subject, “you shook 
me, and said, ‘Blanche, dear, do wake up. Sup- 
posing anybody should come?’” 

“Was that it, Miss Deverest ?” Richard asked. 

“Oh yes, that was part of it,” she answered, 
with a comical air of resignation. “These ob- 
jective and subjective moods and memories are 
getting too much for me.” 

The subject smiled. “Poor Rachel,” she 
said, with humorous enjoj^ment. 

“Oh, it’s all very well, but you two are go- 
ing too fast for me. You are leaving me a long 
way behind. Why can’t I do these things?” 

“Why can’t she, Mrs. Rawlinson? You tell 
her why, and perhaps she’ll believe you.” 

“Because you are too objective, Rachel,” 
said the subject. 

“And what does that mean?” 


176 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“Because you won’t begin at the beginning, 
and learn to obey.” 

“I’m sure I try to go to sleep.” 

“You are not really passive. You wonder 
what is going to happen next.” 

“Well, can I ever learn?” 

“You can, if you determine to.” 

“Oh, dear,” said Miss Deverest, distressfully, 
“I am sure I try. It is all your fault, Mr. Rob- 
inson. You wouldn’t let me believe in the mj^s- 
ter}^, and now it’s impossible. I can’t go to 
sleep.” 

“It is just because you say you can’t,” said 
the subject “that it becomes a thing impossible. 
It is only, hard because you make it so for your- 
self. You have so little faith.” 

“Teach me how to get more then,” said Miss 
Deverest. 

“You can teach 3^ourself. Begin at the be- 
ginning. Sa}" ‘I can,’ ‘I will,’ instead of ‘I 
can’t,’ and believe that what you say will hap- 
pen.” 

“But if it doesn’t happen, Blanche, and it 
never does,” cried Miss Rachel, in desperation, 
“what then?” 

“Try again,” said the subject. “And go on 
trying.” 


SUBJECTIVE PHENOMENA 


177 


‘‘You have got the very best advice on the 
subject, Miss Deverest, that money could buy,” 
said Richard. ‘-The teaching of an expert 
could not be sounder than this, or more com- 
plete.” 

“It is all very well,” said Miss Rachel, a lit- 
tle ruffled, “for her to talk like this, but she is 
quite safe on high ground, and I am sinking in 
the slough of despond. Besides,” she added, 
triumphantly, “you can’t go to sleep yourself, 
Mr. Robinson. You told me so.” 

“You haven’t forgotten, I see. No, I can’t 
sleep yet, but I shall in a little while.” 

“When will that time arrive?” 

“When I can meet a man who is intellectually 
my superior, who has studied psychology thor- 
oughly, who is morally a good man, and who 
has both time and patience to devote to my case. 
Then I shall yield me with content and faith.” 

“Do you despair of finding such a one?” 

“I can find all the qualifications separately in 
fifty men. of my acquaintance, but they do not 
combine them, unfortunately. Still, I do not de- 
spair.” 

“But this is not according to your teaching,” 
she said. “Doesn’t it a.ll rest with yourself?” 


178 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“It does; but I, like you, am too objective. 
Further, I have been directing others, playing 
the schoolmaster, you know, and it is not easy 
for the master to become a pupil. The tendency 
of the mind of an editor, a schoolmaster, or a 
pulpit preacher, is to distribute knowledge to 
others, rather than to receive it. Hence these 
particular callings create more bigots and intol- 
erant thinkers than any others. But we are for- 
getting Mrs. Rawlinson.” 

“Have you been listening all this while, 
Blanche?” asked Miss Deverest. 

The subject smiled, but made no reply. 

^‘Probably not, ’’said Richard, “Do you want 
to talk ?” he asked, “ or would you rather sleep ?” 

“I want to be awaked, and to talk,” she said. 

“Wake up then,” he said. 

“You know I can’t.” 

“Why not?” 

“You know I can’t wake,” she repeated, 
“until you touch me on the forehead.” 

“By Jove! I’d forgotten,” he said, “you 
were right to remind me,” and he touched her 
brow. The 'subject immediately opened her 
eyes. 

“Did you feel any shock on regaining con- 
sciousness?” he asked. 


SUBJECTIVE PHENOMENA 1 79 

“None whatever. Did you wake me sudden- 
ly?” 

“Very suddenly. But you were expecting it, 
and therefore it was no shock to your nervous 
system. Hereafter if I give you a suggestion 
that you will wake without feeling any incon- 
venience, you will do so, but as a rule it is best 
to give you your own time.” 

“What did she mean by saying that she 
couldn’t wake?” asked Miss Deverest. 

“ She agreed this morning to sleep till I waked 
her by touching her forehead.” 

“And could not she have been awakened by 
any other means ?” 

“Oh, certainly, but it was easier for her to 
stick to the original agreement.” 

“Could she have waked of her own accord if 
anything had prevented you from coming to- 
night ?” 

“Certainly she could, and would have done 
so as soon as there was any necessity for it. 
She said she could not wake, but just as soon 
as any danger threatened her person, she would 
break that belief, and wake.” 

“Would the entrance of visitors rouse her?” 

“It would just depend upon how she regarded 


l8o A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 

those visitors in her waking moments. If they 
were averse to any display of hypnotic powers 
she would probably rouse herself, but if she 
knew them to be sympathetic she might not feel 
inclined to do so.” 

‘‘Then if she remained asleep, could they 
have spoken to her, and made her answer?” 

“Oh yes, if they had spoken to her intelli- 
gently.” 

“You pay me a very poor compliment, Mr. 
Robinson,” said Miss Deverest. 

“Pardon me. What I mean is this. To break 
a raf^ort existing between an operator and a 
subject it is only necessary for the person who 
desires to be answered to speak in a low, firm 
voice, repeating constantly some simple phrase, 
such as ‘Are you asleep?’ The subject will 
answer in a little while, and can then be drawn 
into conversation. Rough measures will produce 
little effect, but may end in awakening the 
sleeper with a violent shock, and this is always 
to be avoided.” 

“I have been reading ‘The Romance of Two 
Worlds,”’ said Miss Deverest, “this afternoon. 
It seems to me a curious book.” 

“It is certainly ingenious,” said Richard, 


SUBJECTIVE PHENOMENA l8l 

“but the author’s knowledge of hypnotism is 
marvelously inaccurate; and the electric ring 
theory is unconvincing.” 

“Does it touch upon hypnotic phenomena at 
all? I have not noticed that.” 

“No, you will find it in the introduction. 
Have you the cop}' with you?” 

“It is here,” said Miss Deverest, going to a 
small table, and returning with the book, which 
she handed to Richard. 

“The author has said some things with pecu- 
liar force concerning spiritism as it is commonly 
understood in circles,” said Richard, with a 
laugh, as he turned over the pages. “Ah, here 
is the passage which concerns us. Listen: — 

“ ‘Hypnotism, which is merely animal mag- 
netism called by a new name, and which is 
nothing but the physical attraction of strong 
bodies brought to bear on -weakly, diseased, or 
passive ones, has nothing whatever in common 
with what I may designate spiritual electric 
force. The professor of hypnotism is able on 
certain occasions to instil a thought into the 
mind of his patient, and force him (or her — it 
is generally a feeble woman who is the subject 
practiced upon) to act upon it; pain may be 


i 82 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


soothed, and long trances may ensue, but this 
power is only temporary. The trance of hyp- 
notism is a stupor — in it the patient sees nothing 
worth remembering, even if he could remem- 
ber, which he never does. This is a positive 
sign that hypnotism pertains to the material side 
of existence, and has nothing to do with the 
spiritual.’ 

“There! that is all that concerns me directly. 
The author is a splendid creature. Some one 
has described Marie Corelli as the dictionary in 
hysterics. There is more wit than truth in the 
remark. She is splendid in her scorn of the 
false and the base, for she writes as if she be- 
lieved what she writes; splendid even in her ig- 
norance. Let us begin at the beginning. 

“ ‘Hypnotism is animal magnetism called by 
a new name,’ she asserts. It is nothing of the 
kind. For one hypnotist who believes in animal 
magnetism, or Mesmer’s theory of fluidic ema- 
nations, there are fifty who discredit it utterly 
after patient research and experiment. Braid 
said that hypnotism was a physical process due 
to fatigue of the eyes through continued staring 
at a bright object. The Nancy School attribute 
it to the effect of suggestion wholly. Charcot 


SUBJECTIVE PHENOMENA 1 83 

of the Salpetriere said it was a pathological con- 
dition. So he and the author of this book are 
in accord. Unfortunatel}’ for their theory, 
however, the Nancy School experiments wdth 
all classes of subjects, male and female, the 
healthy and the diseased, which Charcot never 
did ; and the Nancy School declare that the man 
is as easily influenced as the woman, and that 
the healthy man makes the best subject. Fur- 
ther, ‘the physical attraction of strong bodies 
brought to bear on weak and sickly ones’ is 
evident nonsense. A hypnotist may be weak and 
sickl3/ himself, but if he understands the laws of 
his science, his bodily condition will not affect 
the force of his teaching ; because he only directs 
the power in each case; he does not create it. 
‘Hypnotism has nothing in common with spirit- 
ual electric force.’ Perhaps not; hypnotism in 
itself is not a force at all; it is onlj^ the agent 
whereby a force is directed. And the force 
that I refer to is the real ‘spiritual electric force’ 
of Marie Corelli, i, e., the power of the divine in 
man. ‘Pain may be soothed, and long trances 
may ensue, but this power is only temporar3\’ 
On the contrary, it is permanent, if the subject 
is properly treated. As to the long trances that 


184 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


may ensue, they have nothing to do with hyp- 
notic phenomena; there is no long trance in con- 
nection with suggestive therapeutics; it is a 
pathological condition, or else is assumed 
mediums who believe themselves to be spiritually 
controlled. ‘The trance of hypnotism is a stu- 
por.’ The trance of insensibilit 3 ^ miy be — I 
never saw an instance and therefore cannot 
judge — but this lady evidently considers that 
there is only one hypnotic state, and that is the 
trance state. Much she knows about it. Fancy 
trying to fit all the wonderful varieties of sub- 
jective consciousness into the word ‘trance-state’ ! 
A stupor, forsooth! Why, every sense is on the 
alert during hypnosis; the man is far more 
awake than in his normal condition. Hypnosis 
is an exalted condition of mental receptivit37,and 
she dismisses it gravely as ‘a stupor in which the 
patient sees nothing worth remembering, even if 
he could remember, which he never does.’ By 
heaven, she waxes grander in absurdity as 
she proceeds. Never does remember, indeed! 
When he has both his objective and subjective 
memory at command! ‘This is a positive sign 
that hypnotism pertains to the ‘material side of 
existence, and hgs nothing to do with the spir- 


SUBJECTIVE PHENOMENA 


i8s 

itual’ ! But the positive sign does not exist, be- 
cause the memory of the subjective mind is in 
truth perfect. But let us argue further and 
suppose she had said briefly, ‘Hypnotism is ma- 
terial, not spiritual.’ If I thought she divided 
the human being into three constituent parts, 
body, soul, and spirit, there would be no room 
for argument, because I hold that the soul and 
spirit are one, not distinct, and we should stand 
on diflerent ground. But what I know as the 
soul, she also defines as soul or spirit, — the 
psychic force; and a little knowledge of her 
subject would have shown her that hypnotic 
phenomena can only be psychic in their origin. 
I do not like a creed which fixes a broad gulf 
between the two parts of man’s nature, because 
I believe that science can prove that the two are 
constantly working, the one upon the other, and 
according to the training that each receives, 
will the man’s nature develop. The shell of 
the nut is only good to protect the kernel, and 
the worm of ignorance can consume the life of 
the soul.” 

Richard paused in his remarks to brush his 
hand across his brow. 

“Look at the sparks coming out of his fore- 
head,” cried Mrs. Rawlinson suddenly. 


i86 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“Where, Blanche? 1 don’t see anything!” 
said Miss Deverest. 

“I can see them,” she said, in a subdued 
voice, as if talking to herself. “Little blue 
sparks, like electric light, only faint.” 

Richard raised his hand and repeated the ac- 
tion. “Do you see them now?” 

“Yes.” 

“Then you are asleep?” 

“Yes.” 

“Why did you go to sleep?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“Look here,” he said, peremptorily, “this is 
not to happen again. You are not to go to sleep 
without some good reason. Your subjective 
mind is assuming too great a control. I shall 
give you some vigorous suggestions about this 
before I wake you. But since you are asleep, 
let us look into this matter, it seems curious. 
Have you a strong magnet here. Miss Dever- 
est?” 

“I know there is one upstairs,” she said; 
“I will fetch it,” and she left the room. 

“I want you to describe exactly what you 
see,” said Richard, to his subject. “Don’t 
exaggerate anything in the slightest, and re- 


SUBJECTIVE PHENOMENA 


187 


member that I would rather have no results 
than one false impression. Do you hear me?” 

“Yes.” 

“I am going to turn the lights down,” he said, 
suiting the action to the word. “You will see 
better in semi-darkness, and don’t tire your 
eyes. Wink when you want to, and keep them 
closed till Miss Deverest comes back.” 

When the latter returned with the magnet, he 
asked her to stand a little way in front of the 
subject, and directed the magnet a few inches 
from the top of her head. 

“What do you see?” 

“White lights; not white, blue-white.” 

“What now ?” pointing the magnet to her left 
side. 

“Oh, very bright; white lights.” 

“Coming from the magnet?” 

“No, coming to the magnet.” 

“Do they reach the magnet?” 

“No, they flash out from the body two or 
three inches.” 

“What do you see now?” he asked, turning 
Miss Deverest round, and pointing to her right 
side. 

“Orange. No, pink. From pink to. orange.” 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


1 88 

“What now?” pointing to her left hand. 

“White, blue-white.” 

“What now?” — her right hand. 

“ Orange — red — yellow- — they seem to 
change.” 

“What do you see now?” he asked, pointing 
the magnet to his own side. 

“Dark blue,” she said. “Very strong. Three 
or four inches.” 

“What now?” — the other side. 

“Light blue.” 

“What now?” — his head. 

“White — blue-white. ” 

“What now?” — back of the right hand. 

“Just a little — dark blue.” 

“What now?” — the fingers. 

“Dark blue. Lots of it, going right into the 
magnet.” 

“What now?” — the other hand and finders. 

“Sapphire. Very bright.” 

“H’rnl that’s rather curious. Just let me try 
you again. Miss Deverest. What now?” he 
asked, using his fingers instead of the magnet, 
which he secreted stealthily up his sleeve. 

“Very faint. It seems to be in the magnet. 
It is not coming from her at all.” 


SUBJECTIVE PHENOMENA 1 89 

“What now?” he said, touching Miss Ra- 
chel’s forehead. 

“Just a spark. Light blue.” 

“What now?” and he held the magnet a few 
inches from her forehead. 

“Oh, bright lights. Very bright. Coming 
from her forehead.” 

“Very curious,” said Richard. “There seems 
to be some virtue in the magnet. Let’s try 
yourself,” and he held it near her hand. “Do 
you see anj^thing?” 

“No.” 

“See anything now?” and he pointed to her 
side. 

“No.” 

“Well, that will do. Thank you. Now close 
your eyes again,” and he turned up the lights. 

“You went to sleep just now involuntarily,” 
he said, impressively. “That is a thing I do not 
wish you to do. Remember, there is no dan- 
ger in it, whatever, but it shows that you are 
becoming just a shade too subjective. I am going 
to remedy that. You will not be able to sleep 
unless I wish you to do so, and tell you so, and 
you are willing yourself. Do you understand? 
If I want you to sleep, well and good. Now 


190 A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 

for yourself. You will only be able to go 
to sleep when there is some good reason why 
you should do so; if you are in pain, for 
example, or if you want to sleep at night, or if 
you want a nap when you are by yourself. But 
you will never be able to sleep without giving 
yourself the suggestion first of all that you want 
to go to sleep. Do you hear me?” 

“Yes.” 

“Remember then. There must be no more 
dropping off to sleep without knowing the where- 
fore. Do you understand?” 

“Yes.” 

“Don’t forget that. You have great power in 
yourself, and it is being rapidly developed. See 
that you keep it under the control of the reason 
as long as you belong to this world. Remem- 
ber that you are never to lose that control. Do 
you know what a mad person is?” 

“Yes.” 

“He is one in whom subjectivity has com- 
pletely the upper hand. Remember my sug- 
gestions then. You must never allow that 
control to pass from you. I do not mean that 
there is any danger of your going mad, even if 
you went to sleep fifty times a day, involuntarily. 


SUBJECTIVE PHENOMENA 


I9I 

But there is no use in allowing the reins to slip 
from your grasp at any time. Always have a 
reason for going into this state. Remember this 
suggestion.” 

•I shall not forget,” she answered. 

“Wake up in a minute and a half,” he said, 
“feeling quite well and cheerful. Not fatigued 
a bit, and remember all about those lights. I 
want you to tell us about them.” 

“Very well.” 

“What did you mean by implying that mad- 
ness might grow out of this state?” asked Miss 
Deverest, in some alarm. 

“Only that, if improperly directed, madness 
or insanity might, without doubt, be induced. 
It would never happen in her case, because she 
knows that this power is in herself. But if she 
believed herself to be inspired by some ethereal 
being, a spirit, if you will, she would be at the 
mercy of her fancy, or as the spiritists call it, 
‘her control,’ and her imagination, uncontrolled 
by her reason, would be capable of anything.” 

“But she would always have her conscience, 
or instinct, to rely upon ?” 

“No, because she has given up her mind to 
the control of something which she believes to 


192 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


be higher than herself, and therefore she ac- 
cepts without question ideas which, if the}^ came 
from one of her friends, she would dismiss as 
fantastic or wrong. But if she thinks that she is 
controlled by a spirit, she would deem it irrev- 
erent to doubt or argue with the voice of her 
spiritual guide, and whatever he tells her to do 
she will do, conscience and instinct notwith- 
standing. Of course there is no spiritual guide, 
and the voice she hears is born of her own sub- 
jective consciousness, so it is a case of the blind 
leading tlie blind.” 

“Is not the subjective mind perfect?” 

“In itself, certainly. But objective fancies 
and delusions crowd upon it, and without the 
controlling power of reason it is like a huge 
ship without her rudder, tossed and buffeted by 
the waves. See, she is awake.” 

“How do you feel, Blanche?” inquired her 
friend. 

“Very well, thanks. I always feel well now. 

I shall always bless hypnotism, anyhow, for 
procuring me plenty of sleep.” 

“ It does seem to me,” said Miss Rachel, “that 
we ought to be very careful how we experi- 
ment with this force in our natures.” 


SUBJECTIVE PHENOMENA 1 93 

‘‘I grant you that care and knowledge are 
both necessary,” said Richard, “but I think we 
ought to seek for ourselves. If you tell me that 
it’s dangerous, I say that if 3'OU walk into a 
river, and cannot swim, you would probably be 
drowned; yet bathing is a healthy pastime, and 
swimming is onl}^ worth while in deep waters. 
You would not refuse to drink a glass of water 
because three glasses would make ^^ou very un- 
well; or to ride in an electric car because a 
friend of 3’ours had been run down when he was 
looking another way. But tell us about those 
lights, Mrs. Rawlinson. What do you remem- 
ber?” 

“Oh, the3^ were very curious. I never saw 
anything quite like them. They seemed a sort 
of electric blue, and they shifted about.” 

“I believe you could see them now,” said 
Richard, “if you will allow me to turn down 
the gas.’^ 

“Oh yes, try again, Blanche, now you’re 
awake.” 

“I don’t see an3^thing,” said Mrs. Rawlinson 
when the room was in darkness once more, and 
Richard had fruitlessl3^ directed the magnet to 
Miss Deverest and to himself. 


194 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


must be owing, then, to a sharpened sense 
of sight during the hypnotic state. I expect 
the lights are due to the electricity developed in 
the human body. They probably vary accord- 
ing to the dryness of the clothing, the degree of 
health, the bodily activit}^ and so forth. I 
should not take them as evidence of magnetic 
force without exhaustive research, and that 
we are hardly able to give. I shall try one or two 
of my other subjects, who have reached the som- 
nambulic stage, however, and see what they can 
do. I have had a very pleasant evening, and 
am much obliged. Good-night.” 

“Well, Rachel?” said Mrs. Rawlinson in- 
quiringly. 

“He is a pleasant companion, isn’t he?” said 
Miss Rachel with an unconcerned air. “Oh, 
but I am not in love with him a bit. He’s too 
dogmatic.” 

Mrs, Rawlinson laughed. 


CHAPTER IX. 


DIVINE HEALING. 

“Mr. Robinson, do you believe in the effi- 
cacy of prayer?” 

“Most certainly, although I don’t pray my- 
self.” 

“Then you believe in the existence of a pro- 
tecting power, a loving God?” 

“Yes, I believe in the existence of such a Be- 
ing, but He is to me a harmonious God ; He does 
not break natural laws for the benefit of one or 
another of His creatures who cry to Him. To 
do so, and not to remove all suffering, and right 
all oppression in the world, would be injustice, 
even as we imperfect creatures define justice 
and injustice. But God has given to every hu- 
man being the power to help himself, and Jesus 
Christ pointed out the way by which this power 
could be developed to its fullest and best.” 

“How?” asked Miss Deverest. 

195 


196 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“By prayer and faith.” 

“I have always believed in prayer,” she con- 
tinued, “and I have prayed — oh, how I have 
prayed! —til at this deafness in my ear might 
leave me. Don’t laugh at me.” 

“I am not laughing at you — far from it.” 

“Then before I got up from my knees I used 
to listen, you know, but the buzzing in my ear 
was just the same as ever.” 

“All the specialists you have consulted tell 
you that there is no organic trouble — no dis- 
ease of the structure?” 

“Yes, they all say it is purely nervous — a 
paralysis of the nerve.” 

“Then it can only be cured by faith on your 
own part. Patience; you must educate yourself 
up to this state.” 

“Oh, it is so easy to talk!” she cried. “It 
seems to me so unjust that I should suffer this.” 

“There is no injustice other than that which 
men create for themselves. But this is poor 
comfort for you.” 

“Very. I think I should like to go to the 
Home of Divine Healing. Will you come with 
me?” 

“Of course.” 


DIVINE HEALING 


197 


‘^Do you think it will do me any good?’’ 

‘‘I am sure it will — if you believe it will 
yourself.” 

“Oh, there it is again. Don’t tell me it all 
rests with myself.” 

“No, I won’t. Because you may be so im- 
pressed by what you see at this Home that faith 
will be easy to you. When shall we go?” 

“This morning, if you don’t mind.” 

“Very good. I am ready.” 

The Home of Divine Healing w'as situated in 
a pleasant suburb of the city, and the founder 
of the Home, by name Doctor Joubert, had en- 
joyed for many years a notoriety both enviable 
and unenviable. He was regarded by his follow- 
ers, and those whom he had healed of various in- 
firmities, as a good man, and a prophet inspired 
of God. He was reviled by the press and by the 
majority of men as a charlatan ; and he had been 
frequently arrested by the police for his refusal 
to call in medical skill to the bedside of the 
diseased. 

A short w'alk brought our friends to the Tab- 
ernacle, where the doctor was addressing a large 
audience, as his daily custom was. The walls 
of the Tabernacle were ornamented with crutch- 


198 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


es, trusses, steel boots, pipes, flasks of spirits, 
ear-trumpets, and many curious instruments of 
unfamiliar appearance. The audience was com- 
posed chiefly of the poor and needy, and upon 
most of them disease in one form or another had 
set its mark. Many were lying on couches and 
invalid chairs, and taken all in all the scene 
presented a dreadful contrast to the reality of 
bustling life without the building. 

Miss Deverest shuddered. “Oh, I never 
thought I should ever come for help to such a 
gathering,” she whispered. 

“Patience!” said Richard. “Look at all 
these instruments on the wall — taken from the 
enemy! They will give you strength.” 

They found a seat at the back of the hall and 
sat down, a cripple on one side, and a sweet, 
spiritual-looking girl on the other. Richard 
noticed that her spine was twisted. 

“I can't hear what he’s saying,” said Miss 
Rachel. “ We are too far away.” 

“I’ll tell you anything of import,” said Rich- 
ard. 

“Christ is all,” the doctor was saying. “He 
is the fount of Divine Healing. All the sin and 
misery in this world comes straight from the 


DIVINE HEALING 


199 


devil. The devil’s always looking out for a 
chance to hurt us, to damage us in some way. 
Why, only the other day, a poor woman whom 
I had healed, through Christ,of rheumatism had 
gone home cured, and blessing and praising 
God, when the devil tripped her up and threw 
her down her cellar steps, and she broke her leg. 
But she is here again, my friends, and her trust 
in God is so great, that I am glad to tell you 
that she is making a rapid recovery. Much 
more rapid than if she had been attended by a 
doctor of drugs and poisons!” 

The reverend gentleman spoke with bitterness, 
and his audience murmured in appreciation. 

“What is he saying?” asked Miss Rachel. 

“He. says that Christ is All, and the Fount of 
Healing,” said Richard. “ It is a true doctrine.” 

“Now look here,” continued the doctor, en- 
ergetically, coming to the front of the platform. 
“You people all attend to me. Here I am, and 
there,” and he pointed upward, “is Christ. 
Now Christ is all-powerful, isn’t He?” 

“Yes,” they all cried. 

“^And He can heal you if he wants to. Can’t 
He?” 

“Yes, yes.” 


200 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“And He does want to. He always wants to. 
Now if I stretch out my hand and touch the 
hand of Christ, He can pass His healing power 
through me to you. Can’t Fie?” 

“Yes, yes.” 

“Very well, that’s what He does. Now' let 
me see. What evidences of His divine power 
have we got this morning?” 

An assistant brought forward three or four 
crutches, a small preserve bottle containing a 
white substance, and a child’s waistcoat of steel. 

“Ha, ver}^ good!” said the doctor. “The 
pair of crutches belonged to — who is the owner, 
is he here?” 

“Yes, sir. They were mine. I was cured 
of lameness b}^ God’s blessing,” said a voice in 
the audience, ' 

“Do any of yon know this man?” the doctor 
asked. 

“Yes, yes,” came from a dozen places in the 
hall. 

“Very well — no fake about that cure, is 
there?” said the doctor, with a laugh. “You’ll 
find, all you people, that there’s no fake about 
Jesus Christ.” 

“Now what poor child was shut up in this 


DIVINE HEALING 201 

devil’s jacket ?” he continued, holding up the 
waistcoat, 

“It was ray son, sir,” said a woman. “He 
is well now, and is getting strong.” 

“Very good,” said the doctor, holding up the 
bottle, “and here’s a tapeworm. Is the owner 
of this reptile present?” 

“Yes, sir,” said a weak voice. All eyes were 
turned in the direction of the previous owner of 
the property exhibited, but it was significant of 
the gathering that there was no sign of laughter 
in the faces bent upon her. The doctor himself 
was quite serious and business-like as he put the 
bottle down and said: 

“That’s all to-day. Not a bad showing either, 
for one day, is it, my friends? 7’he devil makes 
people lame, and the devil makes little children 
weak in the back, and the devil puts tape- 
worms, serpents like himself, inside people’s 
bodies. ‘But the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth 
us from all sin.’ Now, let me see. There has 
been no offering made to God to-day, so take 
one up now”“-to his assistant— “ and you people 
remember that this healing is free; it doesn’t 
cost you anything; but to carry on God’s work, 
and to pay rent to the owner of this Tabernacle, 


202 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


we must have money. So give as you can afford 
it. Open your purse strings and give gladly. 
And don’t give in a grudging spirit, because God 
sees all you do, and can read your hearts, and 
I shouldn’t be surprised if He measured His 
healing as you do your offerings.” 

“Oh!” said Richard with a groan of disgust, 
and a feeling of contempt for this man who 
professed to know the Christ personally, yet was 
so far beliind the spirit of His teaching, swept 
over him. But he was careful to disguise his 
opinion from Miss Deverest. If she were to 
receive any good from this trial, it would only 
be through her faith in the power of this man 
Joubert. Therefore he turned to her, and whis- 
pered : 

“They are at great expense here, and he 
cures people for nothing, so a collection is be- 
ing taken up. He is a powerful speaker.” 

“He is a very dignified looking man,” she 
said. “I wish I could hear him.” 

“I’m very glad you can’t,” said Richard to 
himself. 

After the offertory, which was liberally given 
to by nearly all those present, the doctor an- 
nounced: 


DIVINE HEALING 


203 


“I am going to the Healing Room now. 
Come, all you sufferers.” 

“You must go in there,” said Richard. 

“Oh, I cannot,” she said, with a gasp. “I 
could not think of my own faith if I were in 
that room among all these. It would spoil it 
all for me. I could not.” 

“Come, be brave. He cannot see you sepa- 
ratel}’; he has too much to do.” 

“If I could see him by myself for just five 
minutes.” 

“No, you had better go in with the rest.” 

“But I cannot think of my own little trouble 
in presence of all this great suffering.” 

“Then do not think of it, but go in, and listen 
to what he says. Will you.^” 

“Yes, I will try. But I feel a great horror 
and shrinking. Oh, look!” and she touched 
his arm. 

A wild-eyed man with disheveled dress 
passed by them, followed by a girl who laughed 
quietly to herself continually. There was no 
reason in her laughter, and when she reached 
the seat where our friends were sitting she 
leaned over and pointed at the insane man 
in front. Then she ran after him and touched 


204 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


him on the back, but he took no notice. And 
the girl looked back at Rachel and beckoned 
her to join the fun. It was rather ghastly. 

Richard found one of the attendants, and as a 
special favor Miss Deverest was admitted among 
the second batch. He waited for her at the en- 
trance, and ten, fifteen minutes passed before 
she joined him. She did not speak for some 
time, and he forbore to ask her any questions. 
They were nearing home before she broke the 
silence. 

“When I went in there,” she said, “I felt I 
was only a spectator. It did not seem to me 
that I wanted anything for myself. And it all 
locked so pitiful, and yet such a mockery. He 
was so big and business-like, and they — oh, 
the poor creatures! — they turned their eyes on 
him with such anxiety, and I looked to see some 
sign of pity or love in his face for them, and 
found none. They were ranged in two rows, 
one on each side of the room, and he stopped 
before each one and asked what was the matter, 
and when they told him he put his hands on the 
place or on their heads, and said, briskly, ‘In 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Ghost,’ and passed on to the next. 


DIVINE HEALING 


205 


When he came to me I told him I was deaf in 
one ear, and I suppose the expression on my 
face must have struck him, for he said, ‘Have 
you repented?’ And I said, ‘Yes,’ though I 
did not know just what he referred to. ‘Except 
ye repent,’ he said, ‘ye cannot be healed. In 
the name of the Father, be,’ and then he went 
on to the next case. Of course, I suppose he 
has to hurry, there are so many waiting to see 
him; but it seemed to me that the whole atmos- 
phere was against me.” 

“Did you see any one healed?” 

“No, although there was one young woman 
there who told me she was being cured of can- 
cer. She said she had been getting better every 
da}^ and she talked freely of ‘the blessing’ she 
had received. Her face shone with joy and 
hope, and she looked so different from the rest. 
I think that must be the hardest trial for those 
who receive no benefit themselves, to have to sit 
by and hear others tell of ‘blessings’ received. 
It must be an additional pang.” 

“I suppose most happy people are selfish,” 
said Richard. “So you were not benefited, eh? 
Well, I didn’t think you would be by Doctor 
Joubert. Did you notice that his audience was 


2o6 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


composed almost entirely of the poor and uned- 
ucated?” 

“Yes.” 

“His teaching is all right so far as they are 
concerned, but it is not complete enough for 
you. He has got hold of a half-truth, and he 
believes it to be sufficient for all men. So it 
might be if it came through a more refined me- 
dium than this man. The trouble is that many 
come to him who could be healed by material 
medicines, and all, all whom he cures, could be 
equally well healed, and in a much shorter time, 
by the employment of hypnotic suggestion. The 
mere fact that thej’ are healed by his means — 
and I do not doubt that he makes many remark- 
able cures — is evidence that they are impression- 
able beings; that his suggestions take root in 
their minds, and that they believe. But how much 
more quickly they could be made to receive the 
suggestions if they were rendered absolutely 
passive by the induction of the h3^pnotic state! 
and how many — how very many — sufferers 
there must be whom hypnotism could reach, 
but who leave Doctor Joubert without receiving 
the slightest benefit! He said in his address in 
the hall that the devil tripped an old woman up 


DIVINE HEALING 


207 


and threw her down the cellar stairs. Seems a 
little undignified and unchivalrous on the part 
of Satan, doesn’t it?” 

Miss Deverest laughed. “Oh, I don’t feel as 
if I could ever shake off the remembrance of 
that scene,” she said. “It is too awful to smile 
at.” 

“Well, you must distract your mind a little. 
You cannot help these poor people much by 
grieving overjhem.” 

“But you might?” she said. 

“How?” 

“By spreading a knowledge of hypnotism 
among all clases.” 

“Why, look you!” said Richard, “you listen 
to me because you are my friend. But you hard- 
ly believe the truth of what I tell you. How do 
you suppose, then, that these people, with not half 
your intelligence, could grasp its importance? 
They will not heed until they are forced to, and 
even then you could not compel them to come 
and be hypnotized. You might as well expect 
them to come and be killed!” 

“Oh, dear,” she sighed, “it is all a dreadful 
muddle. Thank you very much for coming 
with me. Itjnust have been an awful morning 
for you, and I never thought of that, Good-bye.” 


CHAPTER X. 


CHRISTIAN SCIENCE. 

Richard was called away from the city for a 
few clays to attend to some business in which he 
had an interest, and during this period Miss 
Deverest attended the meetings of a body of 
Christian Scientists in the neighborhood A 
devout and estimable lady, a friend of Mrs. 
Rawlinson, accompanied her to the gatherings, 
and averred that she herself was a firm believer 
in the doctrine they taught, and had been a wit- 
ness of many remarkable happenings. Miss 
Deverest found, to her comfort, that she was 
among women and men of her own class, who 
could speak intelligently of the power at work 
in their midst. “Our faith is founded upon the 
Bible,” they told her. “Belief is our shibbo- 
leth, but if 3'Ou don’t believe, it doesn’t matter; 
we can heal you in anj^ case. Your cure will 
come to you by the power of the Divine Spirit, 
which we shall invoke by our prayers, and our 
208 


CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 209 

faith will beget faith in you, and you will be 
well.” 

When Richard returned, she told him of these 
things. 

“Are you any better?” he asked. 

“No, but I shall be, they tell me, if I come 
to them often enough. Do you believe in Chris- 
tian Science?” 

“In the doctrine, or in the cures?” 

“In both.” 

“I believe in their cures, certainly. Why 
should I not? But for their doctrine; it is right, 
and it is wrong. I believe in one part of it, and 
not in another. For instance, they told you that 
mind was absolute, all-powerful?” 

“Yes.” 

“That is true enough. But they asserted also 
that matter had no existence?” 

“Yes, they said mind was everything. They 
told me I was not really deaf in my ear, because 
matter had no existence, and I really had no 
body; I onlj^ thought I had. ‘But,’ I said, ‘it 
is just as bad for me whether I only think so, or 
whether it really does exist. I know that the 
body is there!’ ‘No,’ they said, ‘you do noi: 
know it. You only think it! Your mind icd.j 


210 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


you SO. Now your mind must tell you that 3'Ou 
have no body, and that disease cannot really 
exist, because your body does not exist.’ ‘But,’ 
I said, ‘it is no use, if I have a toothache, telling 
me that I have not a tooth. I know I have; I 
can feel the pain.’ ‘No,’ they said, ‘you only 
think you feel the pain. Make yourself passive, 
and leave the rest with us. ’ When they told me to 
be passive, I thought of you at once ; it seemed so 
like your hypnotic methods. Then one of them 
— there were six persons in the room — kneeled 
down and prayed for me, and I knelt with them, 
while one on each side rested a hand on my 
shoulders. When the prayer was finished they 
all came to me and told me earnestly, one b^’ 
one, that I was not deaf, that my deafness had 
gone, that it did not exist, and never had existed, 
and that I was cured. 1 told them all that I 
could still hear the t/uzzing in my ear, and 
an old man, with a most pleasant and kindly 
face, said, ‘No, my child, 3^ou have only made 
yourself believe it. Now you must unmake 
that belief, and it will disappear, and 3^0111* 
hearing be restored. You must have faith.’ 
‘Oh,’ I said, ‘tell me how I am to get that 
faith.’ And then the old gentleman — I liked 


CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 


21 I 


to look at him, he seemed so calm and strong — 
closed his eyes, and said, ‘Thou great power 
of good, show this poor child wherein she 
erreth. Show her the truth. Teach her that 
mind is all^ and that matter has no existence 
save in our own imperfect consciousness.’ 
Then he laid his hand upon my head, and said, 
‘Child, you are not deaf. You have no difficulty 
in hearing now. You are well. You are cured.’ 
And all the rest said loudly, ‘You are well. 
You are cured.’ Do you know, for a second I 
almost thought I was!” 

“You would have been if you could have 
thoroughly believed what they told you,” said 
Richard. 

“Oh, it seems so hard,” she said. “Why 
couldn’t I?” 

“Chiefly, I suppose, because your reason ob- 
jected to the foundation of their belief. You 
could not grasp the idea that your body was 
just a myth, a phantom conjured up by your 
brain, nay, not your brain, for that too, they 
say, is imaginary, but your mind. The doctrine 
of the Christian Scientists, as based upon the 
unreality of matter, is a manifest absurdity, yet 
you perceive, such is the power of belief, that 


212 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


even this absurdity is not apparent to the fol- 
lower of the creed. The remarkable part of the 
matter to me is not that Christian Science ex- 
ists, and makes many converts, and works many 
seeming miracles, but that people generally fail 
to realize the great truth that is contained in 
these results; namel}^ that faith worketh mar- 
vels. It is only another evidence of the power 
of the subjective mind of man not only to heal 
the body, but to dominate the skepticism of the 
reasoning or objective mind. If you could 
have been really passive, you would have been 
cured; just as you would have gone to sleep for 
me a week ago if you had not objectively re- 
sisted the influence.” 

“Are the miracles of Christian Science per- 
manent in their effects?” she asked. 

“Some of them are; some of them, unhap- 
pily, are not. You see, it rliquires a good deal of 
faith to live always up to a belief that is rotten 
at its core. Reason has a way, unfortunately, 
of asserting itself at odd times, especially with 
persons of fair education. When the patient, 
cured by the science, relapses into a condition 
of doubt, he has not even the belief in the mer- 
ciful healing of Christ to feill back upon, a be- 


CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 


213 


lief which is the foundation of the teaching of 
our business-like friend, Doctor Joubert. No, 
the one Jiealed by this science has been per- 
suaded, and has persuaded himself, that he has 
been cured by the power (save the mark!) of his 
intellect alone. He has believed that his reason 
rescued him, but his reason tells him now that 
the disease has returned, and this latter force, 
assisted by his sensations of pain, is commonly 
too much for his faith in Christian Science. So 
he goes back for strength to the meetings, and 
if he can recover his lost ground, well; but if 
not, he is worse than before. Pity that these 
people could not be jToperly fortified by hyp- 
notic suggestion, which strengthens and de- 
velops the mind, and demands no impossible 
belief at the outset.” 

•‘‘But there are some permanent cures, you 
say?” 

“Oh yes, a great many. Not a cure, though, 
which could not have been better effected by 
hypnotism, because, if these persons expect the 
benefit to continue, they must themselves con- 
tinue to believe in an absurdity, viz., the un- 
reality of matter. But you see that the effect 
of belief is all-powerful, even when founded on 


214 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


foolishness. It is only another evidence of the 
power of the souL” 

“You say that hypnotic suggestion develops 
the reason. I wish you would explain just how 
you could cure me without crushing my reason- 
ing powers.” 

“Certainly. Now we will suppose that you 
have been hypnotized a couple of times. Per- 
haps you will not reach the stage of active som- 
nambulism. You may be merely a lucid sleeper, 
incapable of doing more than listen to what is 
said to you. I should not tell you that your 
deafness did not exist; that it was only an imag- 
inary ailment; but I should insist upon it that 
you had control yourself of all the functions of 
the body, and that your deafness was purely a 
nervous disease. You would agree to that, per- 
haps. Then I should tell you that your hearing 
w'ould be gradually restored. You might shake 
your head in protest. That would mean that 
your auto-suggestion was not sufficiently quies- 
cent. I should repeat to you over and over 
again that your hearing would be restored, and 
I should demand that you assist me by saying 
that you believed it would. If you could speak 
I should make you repeat the phrase after me; 


CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 


215 


if you could only nod your head, you would do 
so. That would be your lesson for the day. 
You might remember, when you woke up,eveiy- 
thing I had said to you. It would not matter if 
you did. I should have inserted the thin end 
of the wedge. The next day your auto-sugges- 
tion would be less active, because you would be 
more ready to assist me; you would understand 
more clearly that I required your cooperation, 
and though the suggestion given the previous 
day might have had no appreciable effect on your 
hearing, yet it would not be without its influence 
on your subjective mind. Very good ; now the 
next day I should impress upon you that you 
would be cured in a few days. If you refused 
to believe this, I should repeat it to 3^011, em- 
phasizing each word, and make you agree to 
accept the statement. Once your subjective mind 
had fully accepted it, I should explain to 3^011 
that by constant reiteration of the statement to 
yourself when you woke you would so impress 
your objective mind that you would find your- 
self, your waking self, accepting it as a possibil- 
ity. ‘Why should I not be cured? This is 
only a nervous disease, and I have power over 
myself,’ would be the result of the faith im- 


2i6 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


planted in the subjective mind. Now when that 
faith is made perfect by continued suggestion, it 
will of itself beget hope, and afterwards faith, 
in the objective mind, and though this would not 
be necessary in such a patient as Mrs. Rawlin*- 
son, in whom the subjective faith alone is 
needed to work a cure, still it must be done in 
your case, because your objective mind is very 
active. Given a few more days, and your con- 
dition of mind would be one of belief, both ob- 
jective and subjective, and of expectanc3^ You 
would know that you would be cured, and you 
would have the assistance of your reason, be- 
cause 3^ou would know that you were curing 
yourself. Result — absolute cure, with no possi- 
bility of a relapse.” 

“Oh, why can I not do this?” she asked. 

“Because 3’ou have no hope at present,” said 
Richard. “You must create hope for yourself. 

I can onl3^ explain how you are to do this. I 
cannot do it for you. It must be roused by 3’ou 
into an activity in your own mind. Is it not 
worth trying?” 

“Yes, if I could but believe that it would do 
me good!” 

Richard sighed. “ I talk and talk to you,” 
he said, reproachfully, “and you follow me, as 


CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 


217 


I fondly think, step by step, and still I make no 
impression on you whatever. Don’t you wish 
to be helped?” 

“Oh yes. But it seems so much more natural 
to pay some one money, don’t you know, and let 
him try experiments, and make examinations.” 

“Anything rather than help yourself. There 
was a man called Naaman once who was very 
wroth because he was told to do a simple thing. 
Yet it was well for Naaman in the end that he 
turned a deaf ear to the voice of proud reason, 
and obeyed like a child. I am not a religious 
man, as you know, yet I cannot help finding an 
interest in the Scriptures which I never experi- 
enced in the days when I knew nothing of the 
gospel of hypnotism.” 

“You should go into the Church,” she said, 
half-laughing, half-serious. 

“Into which of all the churches? There are 
none broad and wide enough to preach my gos- 
pel at present. I do not know of any church that 
teaches Christ as I see Him, and to be perfectly 
honest with you, I should not be quite sincere if 
I said that I was trying to live abetter life than 
I am. I do not like self-denial, though I perceive 
it is the only tiue source of happiness and right 
living.” 


2I8 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“ I rather like to hear you say this, but I know 
it is wrong,” said Miss Deverest. 

“There is a great bond of sympathy between 
us,” said Richard, bracing himself for an effort. 
“I have felt it always, and now — Miss Dever- 
est, there is one wa}^ by which you could be 
cured. I see it clearly before me.” 

“What is that way?” she asked nervousl3\ 
Her instinct told her what was coming, but 
there seemed no chance of avoiding the dis- 
closure. 

Richard coughed, and his voice was husky. 
“If there were some one always near you who 
could devote himself to cultivating your subjec- 
tive faith; who had your ear at all times — ” 

“Which of my ears, Mr. Robinson?” 

“In short,” he continued, “if you will marry 
me, I will give up my whole life to you.” 

“But I don’t want your whole life,” she ob- 
jected. 

“Don’t sa}^ that,” he urged, passionately. “I 
love you very dearly. I don’t care whether you 
are cured or not. I want — ” 

“Dear me, that sounds very selfish, /care,” 
she said. 

“That’s not what I mean at all,” said the un- 
happy Richard. “I mean that — that— oh, well 


CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 


219 


— I alwa3^s had an idea that you might someday 
go deaf in both ears, 3^ou know — 3^es, I know 
it sounds beastly to say it — but I thought that 
might happen, and I rather looked forward to 
having you wholl3" dependent on my love. You 
would be such a sweet burden!” 

He spoke very earnestly’, but Miss Rachel 
laughed. 

“You are very kind,” she said, “but I don’t 
mean to go deaf in both ears, just to fall in with 
y^our plans for my future. And then you tried 
to bribe me into marrying you, Mr. Robinson! 
For shame!” 

“Did I?” 

“Yes, you told me you could cure me, you 
know. And then in the next breath you said 
you hoped I might become a useless burden — ” 

“A sweet burden!’’ he corrected. 

“A burden, any^how. Dear me, you’re very 
unselfish, you must admit.” 

“I admit nothing, except that I love you. 
Will you marry me?” 

“I must think it over,” said Miss Rachel, 
demurely. “I am not sure that I like you par- 
ticularly, and a false step would be fatal.” 

Richard groaned. “You are made of ice,” 
he said. 


220 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


“Oh no, I’m not. You’ll find me very hu- 
man, I assure you,” said the lady, rising. 

Richard took this as a hint that the interview 
was at an end, and rose also. 

“Will you give me leave to hope?” he asked 
tenderly, taking her hand. 

“Certainly — ” 

“Ah, thanks.” 

“ — -I was going to say, hope is the creation 
in yourself of a certain state of mind, caused 
the constant reiteration by the objective — oh, 
Mr. Robinson, what was that you said?” 

“I didn’t say anything,” said Richard, with 
ill-humor, “but I don’t think it fair in you to 
treat it as a joke.” 

“It is my way, however,” she replied. “Be 
warned, and don’t tempt fortune. You’d better 
reconsider your avowal.” 

“Never,” he said brightlj^ “the die is cast. 
You hold my fate in your hand.” 

“Well, good-bye,” she said, “ and please keep 
quiet, and give me time. I don’t think I even 
like you.” 

“Good-bye,” said Richard, humbly. “I will 
endeavor to learn.” 

“You must, indeed,” she said, and the door 
closed behind him. 


EPILOGUE. 


“ It gives one a ver}^ curious feeling,” she 
said, “this reading over the things one has pre- 
viously said. It is like listening to one’s own 
voice from a phonograph.” 

“A phonograph could ^not more exactly re- 
produce your words than my devoted memory,” 
1 answered. 

It was a summer morning, and we were sitting 
on the verandah. The smell of flowers, the 
twittering of birds, and the humming of innu- 
merable bees, all conduced to that feeling of 
drows}' contentment which is the happiness of 
the senses, and may be enjoyed by all whose 
digestions are not hopelessly out of repair. 
Moreover,! had completed my task, and an ap- 
proving conscience was good enough to furnish 
me with peace of mind unusual. 

“Do you mind if I smoke a cigarette?” I 
asked. 

“Oh no, I like the smell of tobacco, now and 
then,” my companion graciously responded. 

Thus, encouraged, I produced my case, and 
offered it to her. She declined. 

“You know I never smoke,” she said; “ it is 
221 


222 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


mannish, and I should not think of making my- 
self a copy, or an echo.” 

“ I presume, though, if 370U had never seen 
any one else use tobacco, you might vourself 
have originated the habit.” 

“Possibly, but it would have made me ill, so 
I should have discontinued it. Why do you 
trouble yourself with supposing so many idle 
things?” 

“The great art of being agreeable is to sup- 
pose for other people. It saves them the fatigue 
of mental tramping.” 

“I am not in need of a professional beater 
myself; I can find game when I desire to. Let 
us talk about your book.” 

“Willingly. I can imagine no subject more 
profitable.” 

“You are either a most conceited man,” she 
said, regarding me with an amused smile, “or 
else 3mu are so fond of laughing at everything 
that it has become a fixed habit. I don’t think 
I approve.” 

“In that case it shall be quickly altered. Go, 
habit, go!” 

“I like you to be serious without being 
gloomy.” 

“It is difficult to achieve a nice balance be- 
tween the two.” 


EPILOGUE 


223 


“But, really, boy, it is not well to laugh al- 
ways.” 

Now when she speaks in that tone to me ray 
heart grows warm, and a gentle electric thrill 
permeates my being. It is a lovely sensation, 
and I wish — 

“The levity is assumed,” I said. “It is a 
valuable cloak, covering lags or good broad- 
cloth equally well.” 

“Its constant use may convey a false impres- 
sion of the wearer.” 

“Not to you, I hope. Now tell me, do you 
like the book?” 

“Fairly, but I am not altogether satisfied with 
it. I never read before of a deaf heroine.” 

“Nor I,” I replied, “hence the fascination. 
It is quite original.” 

“I do not think I like the reference to my 
ear-trumpet. It requires some charity to over- 
look this instrument and forget its existence.” 

“Who wants to forget it? I don’t. I merely 
ignore it when you permit me to do so. And 
you will allow me to say, sweetheart, that you 
do not treat me fairly in this matter. It is most 
fitting that others, especiall}^ other men, should 
be compelled to make use of it when address- 
ing you, but I have surely some right to come 
close to you. There should be no such barrier 


224 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


between us. There are some things, for instance, 
which I can only say to you when your soft 
curls tickle my lips.” 

She laughed. “It is a hateful thing for all 
that. I wish I could do without it.” 

“So you shall,” I replied. “I look into the 
future and I see — ” 

“Never mind. I can imagine the rest.” 

“Can you?” I asked, throwing away my 
cigarette. “Have you pictured such a scene as 
I have in my mind now — the scene or vision that 
is always with me?” 

“Always?” 

“ It never leaves me. When will 3^ou make 
it a reality, sweet?” 

“I must hear it first,” she said, motioning me 
back. I had got up from my chair without be- 
ing aware of the fact. 

“If you will let me breathe it into your ear,” 
I said, standing my ground, “you shall hear it 
now. If not — ” 

“You can tell me through the ear-trumpet.” 

“No. Excuse the slang — it is not good 
enough;” and I knelt beside her. An infernal 
mosquito settled on my leg, and I let it sting. 

“I see,” said I, putting my mouth close to 
her pink ear, “two people, a man and a woman, 
walking hand in hand in a garden. And the 


EPILOGUE 


225 


man’s heart is light within him, for he loves the 
woman better than he loves himself, and he is 
rather a vain man by nature. But in this man’s 
soul is a great reverence for the woman beside 
him, and all she does is right in his eyes, because 
to him she is a thing apart from other women. 
And he knows that he has always sought her, 
that his spirit has longed for her while he was 
yet a boy, and that she only has been, is, and 
will be, the dear love of his soul. And there 
is in the woman a power to move the man to do 
great things, to live nobly, and to seek after the 
best; and the man knows that he would not 
have chosen the better way if it had not been 
that he might win favor in the eyes of the wom- 
an. For he is a dreamer by disposition, and he 
would have drifted with the tide. But the woman 
rescued him, and he belongs to her. He is what 
she has made him.” 

She was listening with lips half parted and 
her eyes downcast. 

‘^And what does the woman feel ?” she asked. 

‘‘You must tell me that, sweet,” I whispered. 

“The woman,” she said, with hesitation, “is 
not certain of herself. She knows the man loves 
her, and she is proud and happy in that knowl- 
edge. She knows her power over him, and is 
glad to think that he allows himself to be guided 


226 


A STUDY IN HYPNOTISM 


by her, he who is to all others a masterful man. 
But she is not a child, this woman. She has lived 
and suffered, and she can choose between good 
and evil.” 

“Also she is not afraid to call evil evil, and 
good good,” I added. “Go on.” 

“The woman likes this man so well,” she pro- 
ceeded, “that she would rather live alone for 
the rest of her days, possessing his friendship, 
yes, and his love, than marry him, and perhaps 
lose both. For she looks forward too, with pain, 
bitter pain at her heart, to the time when she 
will be a useless weight, a grief to herself, and 
a burden to others- — deaf — deaf!” She broke 
off with a cry. 

“Hush!” I said, “you don’t know what you 
are saying. I see only one thing. The woman 
loves the man.” 

She looked into my eyes for the first time, and 
I read her soul in the look and was satisfied. 

“Why, your eyes are wet, boy!” she said, 
wonderingly. 

“A damned mosquito has been biting me,” I 
replied, idiotically, and then we both laughed. 


THE END. 







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